The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is close to restructuring the $2 billion debt incurred over the build-out of Foxwoods Resort Casino, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Journal reported on Monday the owners of North America’s largest casino is nearing a deal with its creditors – including Bank of America – to restructure the debt that has hounded the tribe since an expansion of the resort immediately before the economic downturn.
The tribe did not immediately return calls for comment.
Just before gambling revenues slowed in Connecticut in 2007, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe added a second hotel tower and casino on the property, MGM Grand at Foxwoods. The cost of that construction plus the property’s existing financial obligations eventually capped $2 billion.
As revenues from Foxwoods declined, the tribe defaulted on some of that debt and risked bankruptcy on the property, although there were concerns about the tribe’s obligation to creditors since it is a sovereign nation.
The Journal reports the debt will be restructured under long-payment timelines with favorable interest rates, much lower than those typically given to junk bond ratings Foxwoods achieved when it defaulted.
