It looks like Donald Trump could get trumped.
A Texas bank, which Trump had partnered with in an attempt to buy his three Atlantic City Trump casinos out of bankruptcy protection, is now going ahead on its own.
Beal Bank, based in Dallas, said this week it intends to convert its $486 million loan to the casinos into equity in Trump Entertainment Resorts.
The announcement by Beal Bank follows Donald and Ivanka Trump’s decision last week to withdraw their involvement with the bank and instead back a bid by bondholders to buy the company.
The Trumps had made a joint bid with Beal earlier this year to buy the company.
A conference call Wednesday with a New Jersey bankruptcy court judge contained information on Beal’s new intentions.
“The judge asked both sides to come to a consensual agreement, and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” said Mark Juliano, Trump Entertainment’s CEO. “We continue to hope we have enough in common.”
In a statement released late Wednesday, a Beal lawyer said the company would emerge from bankruptcy with no debt if its plan were selected.
Another hearing is set before the judge for next Thursday, Juliano said.
Donald and Ivanka Trump, who resigned from the board of the company two days before it filed for Chapter 11 protection in February, tried to buy the company themselves and take it private. They were offering $114 million with Beal Bank, and were locked in a battle with bondholders for control of the company.
Before the Trumps switched allegiances last week, the bondholders had increased their offer to $225 million.
Trump Entertainment had favored the Trumps’ plan, saying it would have left the company with more cash to work with, and that the bondholders’ plan used too much cash to pay down debt.
The company owns three Atlantic City casinos: Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and Trump Marina Hotel Casino
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