Press Release
January 15, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- JCC Holding Company ("JCC"), theowner of Harrah's New Orleans Casino, announced Jan.
12 that it has reached anagreement with Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: HET) ("HET"), and its otherprincipal
creditors represented by the Official Bondholders Committee and thebank group to support the plan to restructure
JCC's debt and capital structureadopted by the JCC Board of Directors. The agreement is based upon a proposalfor
restructuring originally presented by Jefferies & Co., JCC's investmentbank advisors, at the November 13th
meeting of the Casino Tax AdvisoryCommittee appointed by Mayor Marc Morial to study the casino issue.
The agreement, which was submitted today in a filing with the BankruptcyCourt, will, if approved by the Court, reduce the casino's debt from more than$500 million to approximately $125 million. The restructured company will beowned by current JCC bondholders and the bank group (51%) and HET (49%).
The company also acknowledged that it has reached an agreement with theFoster administration regarding certain other elements of the proposedrestructuring, including a reduction in the minimum annual payment to theState and the guaranty required for these payments. However, JCC cautionedthat an early special session and prompt legislative approval of the proposedState changes are essential to the success of the restructuring plan.
On a related matter, JCC expressed its encouragement over the announcementtoday of the support of the City of New Orleans expressed in a pressconference attended by Mayor Marc Morial and members of the City Council. TheMayor and the Council endorsed JCC's efforts in restructuring, including aState minimum payment reduction, and committed the City to a $5 millionreduction in certain payments made to the City and payments and expensesrequired by the lease between JCC and the City.
JCC's Harrah's New Orleans Casino remains open and will continueoperations during the bankruptcy proceedings, subject to the goal ofconsummation of the bankruptcy plan by March 31, 2001. No disruptions inemployment or operations are expected during this time unless the reliefsought by JCC is not obtained and a bankruptcy plan cannot be timely approvedby the Bankruptcy Court and consummated by March 31, 2001.
Jazz Casino Company, LLC, a subsidiary of JCC Holding Company, has theexclusive license to own and operate the only land-based casino in OrleansParish. Harrah's New Orleans Management Company, a subsidiary of Harrah'sEntertainment has the contract with Jazz Casino Company to manage the casino.The casino directly employs approximately 3,000 people earning wages, benefitsand tips of over $100 million annually. The 100,000 square foot casino islocated at Canal Street at the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans andis adjacent to the French Quarter, the Aquarium of the Americas and the ErnestN. Morial Convention Center.
Statements in this press release that are not historical fact, includingin particular statements about JCC Holding Company's and Harrah's New OrleansManagement Company's efforts to market the casino aggressively, a possiblefinancial crisis in 2001, the ability of JCC Holding Company and the casino toremain in business under the 18 1/2% annual fee but not under the weight ofthe $100 million minimum annual payment, and the development of a plan toassure that the casino is financially stable and continues to provide economicbenefits to the City and State, are forward-looking statements made pursuantto the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Actof 1995. Management cautions that the future performance of JCC HoldingCompany involves certain risks and uncertainties, and that JCC HoldingCompany's actual results could differ materially from those expressed in anyof its forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors including,without limitation, JCC Holding Company's ability to identify and controlvariable costs, whether the Louisiana State Legislative will reduce oreliminate the $100 million minimum annual payment, whether JCC Holding Companycan successfully develop a plan to cure the Board's financial stabilityfinding and assure the financial stability of the casino, and other factorsthat are contained in documents that JCC Holding Company files with the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission.SOURCE JCC Holding Company
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CONTACT:
Mark Romig of Peter A. Mayer Advertising 504-581-7195,ext. 211 for JCC Holding Company