The Distressed Debt Alert

Icahn Buys Trump Entertainment Resorts' Casino Debt

Investor Carl Icahn purchased a majority interest in $486 million of first mortgage liens held by Beal Bank on bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts' casinos, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Source: News Story

Moody's Investors Service said the delinquency rate on loans packaged in commercial mortgage-backed securities that the rating agency tracks rose by .46% in November to 4.47%. The monthly increase was the largest yet in the economic downturn.

Source: Press Release

Thayer Lodging Group, a private real estate investment company, closed two hotel equity funds that will acquire up to $700 million in hotel assets and provide recapitalizations for workouts and restructuring of debt and equity.

Source: Press Release

National Home Centers, which operates 11 supply stores for home builders in northwest and central Arkansas, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Arkansas Business reported.

Source: News Story

PCCP, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment firm, will buy two real estate private equity funds from Lehman Brothers Holdings with about $2 billion in assets under management, the Wall Street Journal reported. The funds include many distressed mezzanine loans.

Source: News Story

The Congressional Oversight Panel's December report concluded that the Troubled Asset Relief Program was an important part of a broader government strategy that stabilized the U.S. financial system.

Source: Panel Report

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter to Congress that he would extend the Troubled Asset Relief Program to Oct. 3 to continue to assist American families and stabilize the financial markets. The TARP was originally set to expire Dec. 31.

Source: Press Release

General Crane, a distributor of construction cranes, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

Source: News Story

The U.S. Treasury Department said it suspended TCW Group's participation in the Public-Private Investment Program following the departure of fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach from the company, Reuters reported.

Source: News Story

The Wall Street community has mobilized behind a bone marrow search for Alan Cohen, the head of credit and distressed debt at York Capital Management, who is battling a rare form of leukemia, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Source: News Story

The Walking Company Holdings, owner of The Walking Company shoe stores and Big Dogs apparel stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Source: Press Release

The White House plans to cut the projected long-term cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program by more than $200 billion, as faster-than-expected repayments from the nation's largest banks has reduced the 10-year cost estimate of the program from $341 billion to $141 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Source: News Story

Tishman Speyer, the New York-based developer led by Jerry Speyer, defaulted on $1.4 billion worth of a package of loans it used to finance its purchase of six office towers in Chicago's Loop and is negotiating with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to restructure the loans, Crain's reported.

Source: News Story