Donald J. Trump and his partners recently won control of bankrupt casino company Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. after a judge ruled that their bid was better for creditors than a competing offer by investor Carl Icahn.

US Bankruptcy Judge Judith H. Wizmur sided with a group of bondholders who are owed $1.2 billion. Their proposal would reduce Trump Entertainment's debt by $1.4 billion to $334 million and give the celebrity billionaire as much as 10% of the three-casino company he once ran. "This time, we really cut the debt," Trump told the Associated Press. "It was never really cut enough. We've cut the debt down to a low level, and we now have a company in good financial shape."

The ruling ends a 14-month battle for control of Trump Entertainment, which pitted billionaires Icahn and Trump against each other in a Camden, NJ court, and paves the way for Trump Entertainment's three Atlantic City casinos-the Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and Trump Marina Hotel Casino-to exit bankruptcy for a third time. In a bid to take over the company, Icahn purchased $480 million in debt from banker Andy Beal in January 2010 before agreeing to pump an additional $125 million worth of financing into the offer. In his plan, that debt would have been converted to equity, wiping out the bondholders-a key fact that led Wizmur to side with the proposal from Trump and the bondholders. The winning plan included a promise by billionaire Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group to invest $225 million in Trump Entertainment. Under the bondholder plan, the $480 million in bank debt would be reduced by at least $100 million and the rest would be wrapped up in a new bank loan.