Icahn wins court approval to buy Fontainebleau

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Florida court has approved investor Carl Icahn's bid for the bankrupt, unfinished Fontainebleau Las Vegas Resort, according to an attorney who represents the resort.

"The court approved the sale to Icahn Nevada Gaming at today's hearing," Jay Sakalo, a partner at Bilzin Sumberg, bankruptcy counsel to the debtors, wrote in an email on Wednesday.

Icahn Nevada Gaming Acquisition LLC offered the only qualified bid for the company, topping an earlier offer from Penn National Gaming Inc (PENN.O), which dropped out of the bidding.

Icahn's venture will pay $104.6 million in cash, plus forgiveness of about $45 million in debtor-in-possession financing, according to another attorney at Bilzin Sumberg. The cash payment is subject to customary and contractual adjustments.

"My philosophy has always been to buy things when nobody wants them," Icahn said in an interview with Reuters last week.

"There's no question Vegas is pretty stormy right now, but if you buy things when nobody wants them, you just buy them and hope the sun will come out."

Icahn was not immediately available to comment on Wednesday.

The Fontainebleau filed for bankruptcy protection last June after lenders cut off access to nearly $800 million of construction funds. The 3,800-room casino resort, toward the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, has already cost $2 billion.

Icahn said he is looking at plans to complete the construction of the Fontainebleau.

He has been an active player in the distressed gaming sector in the past year as several casinos have been forced into bankruptcy by a decline in consumer spending and hotel visits.

Last year, Icahn was involved in a deal to buy Tropicana Entertainment LLC's TRPET.UL Atlantic City casino.

The case is In re: Fontainebleau Las Vegas Holdings LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 09-21481.

(Reporting by Chelsea Emery; additional reporting by Emily Chasan; editing by Andre Grenon)