History
MGM Grand, Inc. was formed in 1986 as a subsidiary of Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation, for the purpose of investing in the travel and entertainment industries. As majority owner of MGM, Kerkorian had developed the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and the MGM Grand Reno. When they were acquired by Bally Manufacturing in 1986, Kerkorian retained rights to the MGM Grand name.
The company's first venture was MGM Grand Air, a luxury airline offering service between New York and Los Angeles, which launched in September 1987. Kerkorian had experience in the airline industry as a former head of Trans International Airlines and Western Airlines. The company also made an offer to take over financially struggling Pan American World Airways, but it was rejected by Pan Am's board in November 1987 for being too conditional.
In August 1987, MGM Grand bid $152 million for the bankrupt Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, but was beat out by Japanese billionaire Masao Nangaku. Instead, the company acquired the Desert Inn and Sands casinos in February 1988 from Summa Corporation for $167 million. The Sands was promptly sold to Sheldon Adelson's Interface Group for $110 million in April 1989.
In September 1989, the company announced plans for a $700-million Hollywood-themed complex, including a 4,000-room hotel and a theme park. The Desert Inn site was initially considered as a location for the project, but within weeks the location was finalized as the Marina Hotel and the Tropicana Country Club, which MGM Grand acquired for $93 million plus $30 million in stock. The company put the Desert Inn up for sale to focus efforts on the new project, but found no outside bidders, and agreed to sell it to Tracinda for $130 million. Construction on the MGM Grand Las Vegas and the MGM Grand Adventures theme park began in October 1991, and the property opened in December 1993 at a final cost of $1 billion.
The company moved its headquarters from Beverly Hills to Las Vegas in July 1992.
During construction of the MGM Grand, the company acquired an option to buy an 18-acre site across the street from the project. Gary Primm of Primadonna Resorts approached MGM president Bob Maxey in 1994 with an idea for the site: a casino recreating the New York skyline. A joint venture was formed between the two companies, and construction began in March 1995. Completed at a cost of $460 million, the New York-New York Hotel and Casino opened in January 1997.
With New York-New York under development, MGM Grand make moves to expand in several other markets. An exploratory agreement to develop two casinos on the Chinese island of Hainan was announced in August 1994, but came to nothing. In Darwin, Australia, a lucrative market attracting high rollers from Pacific Rim countries, the company considered building a hotel, but instead bought the Diamond Beach Hotel and Casino, renaming it as the MGM Grand Darwin. MGM announced plans for an Atlantic City casino in July 1996. In Michigan, where voters approved casinos in November 1996, MGM made plans for a bid on one of the three available gaming licenses, which would eventually be approved and open in July 1999 as the MGM Grand Detroit.
In South Africa, with casino gambling newly authorized, MGM announced plans in August 1996 to develop 15 properties in conjunction with Tsogo Sun. The first, a temporary casino in Johannesburg's Sundome, opened in October 1998. Three more casinos followed before MGM agreed to sell out its interest in the properties to Tsogo Sun in November 2001.
It announced a plan to acquire Primadonna Resorts on November 9, 1999. This would add three casinos and two golf courses near Primm, Nevada and give the company 100% ownership of the New York-New York.
On May 31, 2000, the company changed its name to MGM Mirage after completing a $6.4 billion merger with Mirage Resorts, the largest ever in the industry. At the time of the merger, MGM Mirage was the largest gambling company in the world; it was subsequently overtaken by Harrah's Entertainment. Before the merger, Mirage Resorts (formerly Golden Nugget Companies, Inc.) had been in operation since the 1970s.
On January 26, 2004, MGM Mirage completed the sale of its two Golden Nugget casinos—the Golden Nugget Las Vegas and the Golden Nugget Laughlin. The downtown Las Vegas location is notably the first casino owned by Steve Wynn, and was the foundation on which he built Mirage Resorts. The Golden Nugget properties were initially purchased by Poster Financial Group, Inc. for approximately $215 million, and ultimately acquired by Tilman Fertitta's Landry's Restaurants.
On June 4, 2004, MGM Mirage announced a bid to acquire one of its major competitors, Mandalay Resort Group, for $68 per share plus assumption of debt. The ensuing negotiations between the two companies included at one point an announcement that the Mandalay board was rejecting the offer because of antitrust concerns. On June 15, 2004, however, both companies' boards approved a revised offer of $71 per share. The agreement called for MGM Mirage to pay $4.8 billion and to assume $2.5 billion in debt. The transaction was completed on April 26, 2005 for $7.9 billion.
On June 23, 2004 MGM Mirage completed its $140 million sale of the MGM Grand Darwin to Skycity Entertainment Group.
Announced on November 10, 2004, Project CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip, is a 76 acres (31 ha), $7 billion, project on the site of the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino and adjoining land is planned as a multi use project. It consists of hotels, casino, condominiums, retail, entertainment and other uses. The development was officially opened in December 2009.
As of 2005, the company owned 831 acres (336 ha) of property on the Las Vegas Strip.
On May 31, 2005 MGM Mirage started construction on the MGM Grand Macau.
On April 25, 2006, MGM Mirage announced with Foxwoods Resort and Casino a joint partnership in developing an expansion plan at Foxwoods that will include a casino using the MGM Grand brand.
On October 16, 2006, MGM Mirage announced that it planned to sell the Colorado Belle Hotel & Casino and Edgewater Hotel and Casino to a partnership of Anthony Marnell III and Sher Gaming. The sale price was $200 million. The sale closed on June 1, 2007.
On October 31, 2006, MGM Mirage announced plans to sell Primm Valley Resorts to Herbst Gaming for $400 million. The proposed sale would not include the Primm Valley Golf Club. The sale closed on April 10, 2007.
On April 19, 2007 the company announced that it planned to purchase a 7.6-acre (31,000 m2) site from Concord Wilshire Partners for $130 million and a 25.8-acre (104,000 m2) site from Gordon Gaming for $444 million. The two parcels give the company complete control of the southwest corner of the Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard intersection. When combined with underused parts of the Circus Circus site, the company will have a 68-acre (280,000 m2) site for future development. The Concord site had been the proposed location for the Maxim Casino.
On August 22, 2007, Dubai World said it will buy a 9.5 percent stake in MGM for about $2.4 billion. It will also invest about $2.7 billion to acquire a 50 percent stake in MGM's CityCenter project, a $7.4 billion, 76 acres (31 ha) Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets due to open in 2009. Dubai World will pay MGM Mirage an additional $100 million if the project opens on time and on budget. The investment firm will buy 14.2 million shares from MGM Mirage at $84 each, a premium of about 13 percent over Tuesday's closing price. The firm will also issue a public tender for an additional 14.2 million shares at the same price. The public tender is due to begin during the week of August 27, 2007.
In December 2007, it opened MGM Grand Macau, its first overseas property, owned and operated through a 50/50 partnership with Pansy Ho, the daughter of Macau's gambling tycoon Stanley Ho.
On October 29, 2008, MGM Mirage halted a $5 billion Atlantic City project on land next to the Borgata Hotel and Casino, which it shared effective half-ownership with Boyd Gaming at that time. The announcement came on the same day MGM Mirage reported a 67 percent plunge in third-quarter earnings, largely because of sluggish revenue from its properties on the Las Vegas Strip.
At about the same time, New Jersey gambling regulators were set to deny MGM Mirage's suitability to operate casinos in New Jersey, as they were unconvinced that MGM Mirage's Macau partner, Pansy Ho, could operate independently from influence of her father, Stanley Ho. The latter is often accused of ties with Chinese organized crime and letting the gangs operate in his casinos' VIP rooms. Faced with not complying with New Jersey gaming regulations, MGM Mirage decided to sell its highly profitable Borgata hotel casino in Atlantic City in order to continue pursuing the even more lucrative Chinese market. MGM Mirage subsequently transferred its 50% share in the Borgata to a divestiture trust through which it receives all benefit of the ownership. The trust will be responsible for selling MGM's interest within 30 months, although MGM will have the right to direct the trustee during the first 18 months.
On December 16, 2008, MGM Mirage announced the sale of its Las Vegas Treasure Island resort and casino to billionaire Phil Ruffin. The sale was completed on March 20, 2009, where Ruffin took possession of the property and its operations. $600 million in cash was wired to MGM Mirage with a $175 million secured note bearing interest at 10% payable not later than 36 months after closing, for a total sale price of $775 million.
On March 23, 2009 Dubai World the United Arab Emirates domestic and international investment arm of the Dubai emirate government announced that it and a wholly owned subsidiary Infinity World have filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court claiming that MGM Mirage breached its CityCenter joint venture agreement after the company filed its 10-K report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which states in part "There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern." and "it cannot provide assurance that its business would generate sufficient cash flow from operation." Dubai World through Infinity World owns 9.5% of MGM Mirage's stock and has invested a significant amount of funding into CityCenter giving it part ownership of the project are asking the court to relieve it of any obligations under the agreement.
Starting on April 6, 2009 news reports began to surface that MGM Mirage hired investment firm Morgan Stanley to assist the company in finding possible buyers for the MGM Grand in Detroit, Michigan and the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.
On June 15, 2010, shareholders voted for MGM Mirage to change its name to "MGM Resorts International", which emphasize the brand's global scope and increased non-gaming strategy. Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said that hedge fund Paulson & Co had acquired 40 million shares (about 9%) to become MGM Resorts’s second-largest shareholder.
On April 18, 2011 an Initial Public Offering was announced for the MGM Macau property. Under the agreement, Pansy Ho Chiu-king, would receive a 29 percent stake in the company, MGM China Holdings Ltd, which has been created as a listing vehicle for the IPO. MGM Resorts would hold 51 percent and the public would receive 20 percent. MGM Macau casino operator raised $1.5 billion from its Initial Public Offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Read more about this topic: MGM Resorts International
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