Israeli tycoons Yitzhak Tshuva and Nochi Dankner purchased the New Frontier hotel in Las Vegas for $1.4 billion, the first step towards their grandiose Plaza Center casino and hotel project.
Under the tycoon's plan, the New Frontier will give way to a 3,500-room hotel that also has 300 private residences, a shopping mall and a conference center in an investment estimated at over $6 billion.
Under an initial agreement between the two businessmen, Tshuva's Elad Group Inc would control 52.5 percent of the project while Dankner's Property and Building, a subsidiary of his IDB Holding Corp. Ltd., would own 47.5 percent. But associates said Saturday that Dankner paid Tshuva $75 million for an equal share in the project, 50 percent each.
The Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs groups provided a $625 million loan for the purchase of the New Frontier. An offer for an additional $200 million high-interest loan was rejected by the two companies.