Fontainebleau Bid Deadline: Jan. 15

LAS VEGAS-The deadline for submitting a qualified bid for the stalled $3-billion, 3,800-room Las Vegas Strip resort development known as Fontainebleau has been set at 5 p.m. PST on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. The bid must top Carl Icahn’s $156.2-million “stalking horse” bid by at least $1 million. An auction will then be conducted on Thursday, Jan. 21, where qualified bidders will have the opportunity to top whoever has submitted the best bid. A hearing to approve the sale to the best bidder is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Adding intrigue to the proceedings is the Examiner’s intent to allow credit bids, which potentially brings into the fold a group of mechanical contractors who claim to be owed more than $450 million, though about half the total is under dispute. In order to submit a credit bid the mechanics contractors will need the bankruptcy judge to ratify their claim quickly, which means they may only try to have the undisputed amount ratified.

In addition to topping Icahn’s bid by $1 million, any other winning bidder, even a contractors’ bid based on the value of unpaid work on the project to date, would have to include tens of millions in cash in order to immediately pay back the $51.5-million in debtor-in-possession financing included in Icahn’s stalking horse bid as well as several million in financing and deal-termination fees that also would straight go to Icahn. A qualified bidder also will have to show it has the financial wherewithal to complete the project.