MGM Resorts completes sale of land in Atlantic City
MGM Resorts International completed the initial portion of its divestiture from Atlantic City Thursday by completing the sale of the land underneath the Borgata.
The company will collect net proceeds of $71 million for the approximately 11.3 acres.
MGM Resorts announced the sale in July to Vornado Realty Trust and Geyser Holdings. The company still owns approximately 85 acres of developable land in Atlantic City of which approximately 70 acres are adjacent to the Borgata on Renaissance Point. The 85 acres were not included in the deal.
The land deal is separate from a pending transaction in which MGM Resorts would sell its 50 percent stake in the Borgata to Los Angeles-based private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners for more than $250 million.
MGM Resorts never named the buyer, which was revealed by Bloomberg News.
Boyd Gaming Corp., which owns the other half of the Borgata and operates the 2,800-room hotel-casino, declined to exercise its right of first refusal in the transaction, allowing the deal with Leonard Green to proceed. New Jersey gaming regulators need to approve the sale.
MGM Resorts placed its Atlantic City holdings into a trust last spring and sought to sell the assets after New Jersey casino authorities said Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho, the company's joint venture partner in the MGM Grand Macau, was unsuitable.
Pansy Ho is the daughter of Macau casino kingpin Stanley Ho. International law enforcement authorities have alleged the 88-year-old billionaire has ties to Chinese organized crime triads.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.
