Resorts International Holdings


Resorts International Holdings, LLC, also known as Colony Resorts Holdings is an affiliate of Colony NorthStar based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

History

RIH was created by Colony Capital in 2000 after it purchased Resorts Atlantic City from Sun International for $144 million. The holding company was created with the goal of snapping up declining casinos for a bargain price and then running them as efficiently and profitably as possible without investing too much capital. In the words of company president Nick Ribis: "I paid $90,000 per room, and Wynn's rooms cost $1 million! If I charge $130 a night I make tons of money! He has to get over $300!"
In 2001, Resorts International Holdings purchased the Las Vegas Hilton from Park Place Entertainment for $280 million and in 2005 it purchased four more properties from Caesars and Harrah's for a total of $1.24 billion prior to the Harrah's buyout of Caesars. The four properties are: Bally's Tunica, Resorts Casino Tunica, Ameristar Casino East Chicago and Atlantic City Hilton.
In April 2007, Resorts International Holdings sold Resorts East Chicago to Ameristar for $675 million realizing a profit on its investment.
On December 10, 2009, it was announced that Resort International wasn't able to pay the mortgage for more than a year for the Atlantic City property and made a deal to have the loan canceled and surrender the property to RAC Atlantic City Holdings L.L.C..
The company's president is Nick L. Ribis who entered the casino industry in 1980's as Donald Trump's attorney and later his advertising executive. Roger Wagner is its chief operating officer. Wagner served as chief operating officer of Binion's Horseshoe from 1998 to 2004.
RIH casino ownership diminished with the default of the mortgages at Resorts Casinos, Bally's Tunica, LVH Casino. It sold Resorts East Chicago to Ameristar. RIH lost its last casino, Atlantic Club Casino in bankruptcy in a Joint-bid with Caesars Entertainment and Tropicana Entertainment, with Caesars taking ownership of the property, it closed in January 2014. Caesars later sold the property to the same hotel developer which also bought Claridge Atlantic City in October 2013 from Caesars.

Casinos and hotels