Atlantic Club hits back at PokerStars appeal
New Jersey casino says terms of collapsed deal were clear and should be adhered to
PokerStars should “live with the bargain [it] willingly struck” when it agreed the deal to acquire The Atlantic Club, according to lawyers for the New Jersey casino operator.
In a written response to PokerStars’ attempt to revive the collapsed deal, filed with a New Jersey court and seen by Bloomberg, the casino said the online operator knew what it was agreeing to and must now live with the consequences.
PokerStars’ parent company Rational Group entered into a US$15m deal to buy the Atlantic City property in December 2012 and initially contributed $11m to keep the casino up and running throughout the winter.
However the deal later fell through after Rational Group failed to obtain a licence before the agreed deadline of 26 April.
According to Bloomberg, the casino’s lawyers wrote: “The trial court recognised that (PokerStars) should live with the bargain they willingly struck, even if the risk they assumed proved unfavourable for them.”
Last month the New Jersey Superior Court upheld Atlantic Club owners Colony Capital’s initial appeal against Rational Group’s injunction blocking the investment group from seeking another buyer for the casino.
Rational Group filed an appeal arguing that the court’s ruling should be overturned, stating that the trial court misinterpreted a statute which requires any deal to buy a casino to provide regulators with a 120-day period for review.