Resorts International : 3 Bids Made for Control of Jersey Casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. —  At least three bids already have been made to get controlling interest in Resorts International, but a lawyer for the estate of the late owner said Friday that family members have not even decided whether to sell.

Gerald Dickler, attorney for the estate of the late James M. Crosby, would not say exactly how many bids have been received, saying only that it is “fewer than 10.”

“There’s no sense in talking about them at this time,” Dickler said. “We’re not yet prepared to talk to anybody yet, specifically because we’re waiting for an appraisal on the property from Merrill Lynch. We expect it early next week.”

Members of the Crosby estate must first decide “if a sale should even take place.”

Resorts, which owns one casino in Atlantic City and is building another, has two classes of stock. Owners of Class B stock control the company because one share of that stock has 100 times the voting power of one share of Class A stock.

Crosby’s estate owns 390,783 shares of Class B stock, or 48.3% of the company’s voting power. Other relatives apparently own enough stock to control an additional 20% of the vote.

Of the bids submitted, Dickler said, “obviously not everybody is making the same bid. And obviously there are some who are not even in the running.”

Dickler confirmed, however, that members of the estate are perplexed over a bid by a group identified only as Seatex Group Inc., listed in court papers as an Austrian hotel-casino chain.

The bid arrived on stationery without an address or phone number, Dickler said, giving the estate no way to find out specifics about the company.

“We’re particularly concerned because of the stringent requirements of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission,” he said.

Meanwhile, few details were available on a bid by Phoenix real estate developer Michael Peloquin.