Carl Icahn Wins Casino Project Bid

The Wall Street Journal has reported on its Web site that billionaire financier Carl Icahn won the bid for the stalled Fontainebleau Las Vegas casino project after two competing bids were ruled unqualified by the examiner appointed by a bankruptcy court.

Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN), a regional casino company, had scouted the project for months. The company dropped out of the bidding process last week because it determined that an additional $1.5 billion investment in the project would need to be made after the purchase was complete.

Icahn emerged as a surprise bidder in November when he made a $156 million "stalking horse" starting bid that was higher than the starting bid proposed by Penn.

The auction was supposed to be held Friday but it will not happen because the other bids that were submitted were found not to be serious.

Financial backers of developer Jeffrey Soffer stand to lose much of the $2 billion already invested in the project, which is around 70% complete.