Thursday, August 31, 2006

As reported by the Press of Atlantic City: "The buyer of the Sands Casino
Hotel likely will tear down the existing casino to make way for a $1 billion
megaresort that would take about three years to build, according to a gaming
analyst. "Attorneys for the Sands' owner, billionaire investor Carl C.
Icahn, have confirmed that negotiations are under way to sell the casino,
but have not yet disclosed the names of potential buyers. "Gaming analyst
George L. Smith III of Davenport & Co. said Las Vegas-based Pinnacle
Entertainment Inc. appears to be the front-runner for the Sands. Pinnacle
has been looking for other ways to enter the Atlantic City market after
losing out in May to Columbia Sussex Corp. in a $2.75 billion bidding war
for Aztar Corp., parent company of Tropicana Casino and Resort. ".Smith
added that Pinnacle probably would demolish the aging Sands to build a new
casino. Icahn's American Real Estate Partners investment group recently
acquired oceanfront property next to the Sands that could be combined with
the existing casino site for a $1 billion megaresort, Smith noted.
".Demolition of the Sands likely would put most of the casino's
approximately 2,000 gaming and hotel employees out of work while
construction continued for three years on the new resort."