Resorts International Inc

In an unexpected move, Hollywood producer Merv Griffin on Thursday offered $250 million for the stock of casino operator Resorts International. The $35-a-share bid came on the eve of a court hearing that is crucial to Resorts Chairman Donald J. Trump's $22-a-share plan to take the company private. In response, Trump quickly declared that he would not sell his controlling Class B stock, which was one of several conditions that Griffin put on his bid.

Merv Griffin and Donald J. Trump resumed their on-again, off-again negotiations for control of Resorts International on Wednesday, a week after talks about the casino company collapsed amid mutual recriminations. Terms of the discussion are roughly the same as those previously announced: Griffin, the former talk-show host turned businessman, would pay about $205 million, or $36 a share for most of the Atlantic City, N.J., company.

Hollywood producer Merv Griffin has agreed to sharply reduce his ownership in Resorts International as part of a sweeping financial reorganization that temporarily delays bankruptcy for the ailing casino company, it was announced Monday. At the heart of the plan is a proposal for Griffin to reduce his majority ownership in Resorts to 22% in exchange for a steep reduction in the company's debt. The reorganization makes the bondholders the new majority owners of the company.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an inquiry into the competition between Hollywood producer Merv Griffin and New York financier Donald Trump for Resorts International, both sides said Thursday. However, the competitors for the casino operator pointed to each other as the cause of the investigation by securities watchdogs. A Trump attorney told a Delaware judge in a letter that statements by Griffin and his ally, Resorts shareholder F. V.

Hollywood producer Merv Griffin's investment firm said Tuesday that it plans a tender offer for 2.9 million of Resorts International's 5.7 million Class A shares, which would give shareholders an early opportunity to vote on the Los Angeles firm's pending $36-a-share acquisition bid. The offer, expected by Monday, is aimed at showing stockholder sentiment about the offer to the board of directors of the casino firm, a Griffin spokesman said. Resorts Class A shares closed Tuesday at $28.

The Atlantic City, N.J.-based casino and real estate company termed the $200-million offer by KSZ Co. as "grossly inadequate and not in the best interests of the company." KSZ is backed by Denver oilman Marvin Davis. Meanwhile, the estate of the late Resorts Chairman James M. Crosby and family members announced that they will abide by an agreement to sell a 72% controlling interest in Resorts to New York developer Donald Trump .

New York financier Donald J. Trump said late Wednesday that he is abandoning his $22-a-share tender offer for the Resorts International stock that he does not own. He will return all tendered shares after his offer and merger agreement expire at midnight tonight, he said. Trump also declared that takeover offers for Resorts by Hollywood producer Merv Griffin "can never be approved and will never be approved."