Tribe asks court to block sale of any Detroit casino

Thursday, February 24, 2005  

The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa asked the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to block the sale of any of the three casinos in Detroit, Michigan.

The tribe was wrongly denied the right to bid on the casinos, the court previously ruled. To settle the matter, two of the casino owners agreed to pay $79 million to the tribe while the third owner refused to settle.

Since the deal was announced, MGM Mirage, the one that refused to settle, purchased Mandalay Resorts Group, which did settle. The merger requires the sale of either the MGM- or Mandalay-owned casino due to a provision in state law bars an entity from owning more than 10 percent of two casinos in Detroit.

The tribe says the sale should be blocked until a full settlement is reached on the suit. The tribe is seeking a total of $120 million or reopen the bidding process.

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Tribe seeks to bar casino sale (The Detroit News 2/24)