Foxwoods' "restructuring" won't affect Philly Deal

Philly.com reports --

PhillyDeals: Tribal woes in Conn. won't affect Foxwoods here
By Joseph N. DiStefano

The Mashantucket Western Pequot Tribal Nation, part-owner of a planned Philadelphia gambling hall, is trying to restructure its vast Connecticut casino's $2 billion-plus debt load so it can keep pulling in cash from a shrinking crowd of gamblers.

"We'll be asking creditors to take a big haircut," a tribal adviser told the New London Day.

The Mashantuckets also own Foxwoods Development Co. L.L.C., a 30 percent partner in one of the groups that is trying to open a slot-machine gambling hall in Philadelphia.

The tribe's huge casino complex in southeastern Connecticut is called Foxwoods.

But "Foxwoods Development Co. is a separate corporation from the tribal gaming operations," Brian Ford, president of Washington Philadelphia Investors, which owns the remaining 70 percent, told me.

"Any financial exigency in the tribal gaming operations will have no impact on Foxwoods Development Co.'s ability to be a great partner here in Pennsylvania."

The group will bring its latest proposals before the state gaming board tomorrow, as my colleague Jennifer Lin reported Tuesday.