Judge to consider liquidating Taj Mahal parent company

The Wilmington judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which owns the Trump Taj Mahal and the former Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, scheduled a hearing for Dec. 4 on whether to convert the Trump bankruptcy from an attempted reorganization to a straight liquidation of assets.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said in his order that "there is no reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation" as long as no financing is in place. He said that Trump Entertainment, the unsecured creditors committee, affiliates of Carl Icahn, Unite Here Local 54, and Atlantic City "must negotiate with the understanding that there is urgency and an endpoint to their finding common ground."

The conversion of the case to a liquidation, or a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, would allow the appointment of an independent trustee, who then would have significant authority over the distribution of the Trump assets. Under Chapter 11, the bankrupt company retains a chance to determine its own fate.

- Harold Brubaker