Donald Trump Reducing Exposure To Atlantic City

05.28.2008 | 1:53 pm | News, casinos

While he has been making big noises about the smoking ban in various States in the US it seems that Donald Trump is finally shipping out of Atlantic City. Apparently he was looking to sell all three of his casinos in Atlantic City and has finally accepted an offer for one of the venues. The offer for the Trump Marina Hotel Casino is reported at around the $316 million level with many people feeling that the new buyer has got a great bargain.

The problem with Trump’s casinos in Atlantic City is the fact that they are now rundown and in need of some serious financial investment to bring them back to the level required into today’s ever competitive casino market. The operation has been acquired by a company called Coastal Marina and while the deal may take up to 9 months to receive regulatory approval it seems very much a done deal.

It has been reported that Coastal Marina has already agreed a tie-up with Margaritaville Holdings, the business arm of musician Jimmy Buffett. This has set the wheels in motion for a serious revamp of the whole operation, including the look and the feel. This is what the Trump Marina Hotel Casino has been crying out for and the whole area will receive a boost as and when the deal is finalised.

While the Trump executives have stated that the funds from the sale will be used to pay down part of the group’s %1.5 billion debts, they also claim they are looking to revamp the other two casinos in Atlantic City. This statement has been met with some degree of disbelief by many in the industry as it has been widely known for some time that Trump has been looking to seriously reduce his exposure in the casino industry.

Is Donald Trump trying to bluff possible bidders for his other two casinos in the area and gain a better price?