LAS VEGAS—Carl C. Icahn has sold the Fontainebleau Las Vegas to real estate company The Witkoff Group LLC and investment company New Valley LLC for $600 million, more than quadrupling his return on investment.
Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP) completed the sale of the unfinished development property and partially developed casino located at 2755 South Las Vegas Blvd. Icahn’s company originally acquired the property for $148 million in February 2010.
“We are pleased to announce the sale of the Fontainebleau, which was one of Icahn Enterprise’s hidden gems carried at $143 million on our balance sheet and in our statement of indicative net asset value as of June 30. IEP acquired this asset when others were unwilling to invest, and the sale has resulted in a gain of approximately $457 million for our unit holders,” said Icahn, chairman of IEP.
“This successful investment is an example of our contrarian modus operandi, which seeks to invest in undervalued assets and businesses, nurture, guide and improve their condition and operations, and ultimately sell them for large gains. This is our second significant transaction this year, as we previously disclosed the sale of American Railcar Leasing LLC in June, which resulted in a gain of approximately $1.521 billion for our unit holders,” he said.