market folly

We have an interesting transaction out of Carl Icahn's camp to bring you up to date on. On March 9th, 2010, Icahn (through his various investment vehicles and subsidiaries) exercised warrants on Tropicana Entertainment. In aggregate, he received 784,158 shares at a price of $0.01. According to a Form 4 filing with the SEC, the expiration date on the warrants was June 5th, 2010 and the date exercisable was March 8th, 2010. Icahn of course graced the recently updated Forbes' billionaire list as well.

Following the reported transactions, Icahn owns 12,664,179 shares of Tropicana Entertainment. On March 8th, Icahn also announced that Tropicana had emerged from bankruptcy, eliminating $2.5 billion of pre-existing indebtedness. Taken from the company's recent press release, their CEO Scott Butera said that, "We are very pleased that we have been able to turn the Company around in the wake of the country's deep financial crisis. We have also secured an ownership group that has a long proven track record of success in the gaming industry. By constantly adjusting to market conditions, we have built the foundations of our company in a way that positions us to achieve profitable long term growth."

To see what else the corporate raider has been up to, check out Icahn's investor letter, as well as his hedge fund's portfolio. In terms of other recent maneuvers, we've also seen Icahn add to his Take Two interactive stake (TTWO).

Taken from Tropicana Entertainment's website, they are "a privately held company that, along with its affiliates, owns or operates 9 casinos and resorts in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and New Jersey."