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Trump Backs Out of $470 million Bond
Deal for Debt-Laden Casino Company;
Interest Payments Too High
By Eric Herman, Daily News, New York
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 

May 18--Donald Trump has backed out of a bond deal that would have raised $470 million for his debt-laden casino company. 

And while Trump said he cancelled the junk-bond sale because interest payments were too high, others said he had scared off potential investors last year by trying to welch on debt payments. 

"Investors are basically saying that they're tired of all the shenanigans that Donald's been playing," said Jane Pedreira, an analyst with Lehman Brothers. 

Last fall Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, a publicly traded company, tried to avoid paying $91 million in interest owed to bondholders. The company, run by Trump himself, later made the payments. 

The move reportedly made it difficult for Trump to raise more cash this time. He wants to use the $470 million to recycle old debt that comes due next year. 

At first, Trump planned to pay a 10.25 percent yield, sources said. But his company sweetened the deal, raising rates on bonds backed by the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City and a riverboat casino in Indiana. 

A first mortgage of $340 million would have paid 9.75 percent to 10 percent interest, while a second mortgage of $130 million would have paid 12.75 percent to 13 percent, market sources said. Bondholders could have foreclosed on the casinos if the company defaulted. 

According to Trump, the increased rates he had to offer investors led him to pull the sale. 

"We're just not happy with the interest rate," Trump told the Daily News, adding that his casinos were flourishing and he will come back to the bond market later. "We're going to have a very good summer." 

Pedreira said if Trump could not issue bonds he might have to renegotiate $242 million in debt due next year, or sell the Trump Marina. 

"He should be able to sell it for more than $300 million," she said. "The tricky part is finding a buyer." 

-----To see more of the Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.NYDailyNews.com 

(c) 2002, Daily News, New York. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. DJT, 


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