Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
The casino operator whose owner wants to site a gaming operation in Steuben County filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, the news service Reuters reported.
Casino operator Majestic Star Casino LLC and seven affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
The gaming company listed estimated assets in the range of $100 million to $500 million and estimated liabilities in the range of $500 million to $1 billion.
The gaming company currently has $300 million of 9.5 percent senior secured notes, due October 2010, and $200 million of 9.75 percent senior notes, due January 2011, outstanding, according to its Web site. It also has an $80 million revolving credit facility maturing in April 2010.
Majestic Star operates casinos in Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Colorado. Majestic Star's owner, Don Barden of Detroit, has been working since 2007 to move one of his two Indiana licenses to Steuben County.
The effort failed to earn a positive vote in an Indiana Senate committee in 2008 but the matter has been resurrected this year through a legislative study committee on gaming.
Steuben County Economic Development Commission officials are working to get the matter put before the voters in the form of a referendum. The referendum would have to be approved by the Legislature. And it would take a positive vote of the people before a casino license could ever be approved for the county.
Even if a referendum were approved, that still doesn't mean a casino would locate in Steuben County.