Deseret News (Salt Lake City): Reports: Trump trying to use bondholders to rescue casino company

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- After one deal to save his casino company fell apart last week, Donald Trump is trying a new approach.

Trump is negotiating with the bondholders to whom his Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts business owes $1.8 billion, according to published reports.

Under the deal, bondholders would trade some of the debt for a controlling interest in the company, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Wall Street Journal reported in Friday's editions.

Neither Trump nor his spokesman returned calls to The Associated Press on Friday, nor did a spokeswoman for Chanin Capital Partners, which represents holders of Trump Casino Holdings bonds.

On Wednesday, Trump announced that the company and investment banker DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, which had engineered a bailout program for the cash-strapped casino operator, had broken off negotiations.

Under the proposed DLJ bailout, announced Aug. 9, Trump would have surrendered his majority stake and his title as CEO but left his name on the company and kept a 25 percent interest. The company also would have filed for bankruptcy protection.

But Trump needed bondholders to sign off on the restructuring, and that did not happen.

Now, Trump is dealing with the bondholders again -- but without DLJ's involvement.

"We have a wonderful relationship with the bondholders," Trump told the Star-Ledger. "They are really terrific people, smart and professional."

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump would remain chief executive of the company under the latest plans.

Trump also said he could privatize the company or sell an asset, such as a casino, to raise cash.