VICI Properties, a real estate investment business, and Blackstone, a financial behemoth, have reached an agreement on the purchase of the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay casinos after months of discussion. The casinos are now owned exclusively by VICI Properties. The international expansion of this offshoot of the well-known operator Ceasars Entertainment includes Canada, where it is just getting started.
Blackstone’s stakes in the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay casinos are acquired by VICI.
Both the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay have been purchased by VICI Properties. The news was officially released on January 9, 2023. The property investment firm and its joint venture partner, Blackstone, have closed on the deal. The MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay were previously owned jointly by MGM Resorts International and VICI Properties. To be more precise, it only owned 49.9% of the voting stock of these casinos. However, after the transaction, VICI Properties had 100% ownership. The entirety of the company’s shares, or 49.9%, were recently purchased from financial powerhouse Blackstone, bringing the company’s total capital to 100%. Both the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay are currently wholly owned by VICI Properties.
With this purchase, Ceasars Intertainment is thrilled to further cement its position as an industry leader in entertainment and leisure. Even while VICI Properties was only founded in 2017, its owner, a well-known operator, already wields considerable sway along the Las Vegas Strip. Ceasars Intertainment, which already owns several notable Las Vegas properties like the world-famous Ceasars Palace and the New York-New York, strengthens its position as a market leader. The operator, through its company VICI Properties, has recently started out 2023 strongly by acquiring the last remaining shares in both the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay.
Both the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay are five-star hotels with casinos within. Both venues first welcomed the public on December 18, 1993, and March 2, 1999. There are 6,852 guestrooms and suites at the MGM Grand, in addition to about 16,000 square feet of gaming space. Over 12,500 square feet of gaming space is available at the Mandalay Bay. Both the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay feature casinos, hotels, restaurants, bars, a wedding chapel, and a concert hall.
The transaction was finalized with a cash payment and the elimination of Blackstone’s obligations.
The offer to purchase Blackstone’s shares was not limited to a monetary sum. VICI Properties and Blackstone announced their deal to acquire VICI for $1.27 billion (or approximately €1.18 billion) in December of last year. This sum was supposed to include a buyout of $1.5 billion (or around 1.4 billion euros) of Blackstone’s debt on the same institutions.
It is important to remember that the MGM Grand and the Mandalay Bay are currently owned on a rental basis by the operator, MGM Springs International. The next increase in rent for these two properties is expected to take place on March 1, 2023, and it is predicted that the annual rate would reach roughly 310 million dollars (or 288 million euros).
The growth of VICI Properties has been meteoric.
The international reach of Ceasars Intertainment’s subsidiary is growing. VICI Properties is not content to focus solely on properties in the immediate vicinity. The investing firm has just purchased four brick-and-mortar casinos in Alberta, Canada. Pure Canadian Gaming Corporation, a Canadian company, was the owner of these casinos. A long-term emphyteutic lease has been awarded to Pure Canadian Gaming Corporation, a Canadian operator, per the terms of the parties’ agreement. For the next quarter-century, Pure Canadian Gaming Corporation will oversee the daily operations of the casinos it has sold.
VICI Properties has publicly stated that this is the first development of its sort. It admitted in a message dated January 9 that it had never before invested abroad. This is the first time a company of this size has entered the Canadian gaming market.
The real estate market is dominated by Blackstone and VICI Properties.
Ceasars Entertainment is strengthening its standing as a leading company in the American gaming market. Its purchase of the whole MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay has propelled VICI Properties to the position of largest real estate owner in the United States.
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