A judge in Reno, US, has approved plans to sell 11 Station Casinos properties at auction in August.

The company submitted reorganisation proposals in March under which it planned to form a new company and sell off 11 of its properties. Station’s founders Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta are expected to bid for the properties as the ‘stalking horse’ bidder with an offer of $772m, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Judge Gregg Zive said that he wanted the parties involved to work on ways of boosting the value of the company, which is estimated to have $6bn of debt.

"This, in fact, is a complex set of relationships that are difficult to disentangle," he said. "There would be legal issues and questions at every step of that separation, all of which most probably involve the incurrence of a great deal of fees, costs and expenses.

"There is little doubt such a division, if it were to occur in the absence of a rational and comprehensive business approach, could create economic disaster for many parties."