MGM Mirage may drop Atlantic City casino for Macau partner

2010/02/09

HONG KONG: MGM Mirage has said it may unload its stake in an Atlantic City casino resort to settle a fight with US gaming regulators over the company’s Macau business partner.
The move suggests that MGM is prepared to sell its half stake in the Borgata hotel-casino in Atlantic City to keep a joint venture in the glitzy Asian gambling hub, which has now leapfrogged Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue.

New Jersey’s gaming regulator in May told MGM to cut ties with Pansy Ho, daughter of gaming tycoon Stanley Ho, after deeming her “unsuitable” because of the elder Ho’s alleged links to Macau’s underworld.

Ho, who controlled Macau’s gaming sector until it opened to foreign competition in 2002, has denied any ties to organised crime.

Jim Murren, MGM’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement posted on the company website late Monday that he disagreed with the watchdog’s edict, but “we believe pursuing a settlement with the (regulator) represents the best course of action for our company and its shareholders.”

“We would like to put this matter behind us and move forward with the compelling growth opportunities we have in Macau,” Murren said.

The daily South China Morning Post has reported that the company is planning a Hong Kong listing for its joint-venture casino resort in the former Portuguese colony, which was returned to China in 1999.

Rival US-based casino operators Wynn and Sands have already listed on the bourse in nearby Hong Kong.

Under MGM’s proposal, it would place its 50 percent stake in the Atlantic City property into a divestiture trust “for which MGM Mirage would be the sole economic beneficiary,” the statement said.

Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp., MGM Mirage’s partner in Borgata, would be a likely buyer for its partner’s stake but has declined comment on the issue, the Las Vegas Sun reported Monday. -- AFP