{"id":35268,"date":"2022-12-30T00:37:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T08:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?p=35268"},"modified":"2024-10-25T08:46:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T15:46:49","slug":"rumor-mgm-resorts-in-preliminary-talks-to-buy-m-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/rumor-mgm-resorts-in-preliminary-talks-to-buy-m-resort\/","title":{"rendered":"Rumor: MGM Resorts in Preliminary Talks to Buy M Resort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been awhile since we shared a juicy rumor about a potential casino sale, so let’s get right on that.<\/p>\n

It appears MGM Resorts is in early discussions to purchase M Resort.<\/p>\n

A reliable source says initial discussions went positively, with all parties interested in pursuing the sale.<\/p>\n

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M Resort opened in 2009 and is home to many of our gambling dollars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Casino sales have gotten a bit more complicated in recent years, as the “physical assets” (land and buildings) are often owned by a REIT (real estate investment trust), in this case Gaming and Leisure Properties, and managed by another, in the case of M Resort, Penn National Gaming.<\/p>\n

MGM Resorts has been focusing on casino and hotel management (known as “operations” in the business) in the past few years, selling off its land and becoming a tenant. They call it an “asset light” strategy.<\/p>\n

We recently wrote that a REIT, Vici Properties<\/a>, is now The Strip’s landlord.<\/p>\n

In the case of M Resort, we trust MGM Resorts would be potentially taking over the operations of the casino while leasing the land.<\/p>\n

MGM Resorts recently took over operations of Cosmopolitan, and relinquished the operations of Mirage (sold to Hard Rock International).<\/p>\n

As MGM Resorts and Penn are publicly traded companies, good luck getting them to confirm a sale is in the works.<\/p>\n

We are a huge fan of M Resort. The resort is about 10 minutes south of The Strip, and is largely a locals casino with an upscale feel, value pricing and player-friendly loyalty club perks.<\/p>\n

M Resort would be a strange addition to the MGM Resorts portfolio, but they’d save a ton of money because all the ownership papers would just have to add a “GM” to “M” and an “s” to the end of “Resort,” done deal.<\/p>\n

It’s probably more complicated than that.<\/p>\n

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M Resort recently announced it would build a new hotel tower (as shown in this rendering). How a sale could impact the plan is unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Penn’s other venture in Las Vegas was Tropicana. Back in March 2020, Penn sold Trop<\/a> to itself (its REIT, Gaming and Leisure Properties). In August 2021, Tropicana’s operations were sold to Bally’s Corp.<\/a> (no relation to Bally’s resort, now Horseshoe Las Vegas), with Bally’s Corp. leasing the land from Gaming and Leisure Properties.<\/p>\n

There are pros and cons whenever a new company takes over a casino’s operations. The buzz out of Cosmopolitan isn’t especially flattering to MGM Resorts, and Cosmo has taken a significant hit on review sites. There has also reportedly been an exodus of key executives, not uncommon in such ownership changes.<\/p>\n

Casino sales can take awhile, due diligence and all that, so we may not hear any official word about the sale of M Resort for some time to come. There’s also a chance the parties involved fail to come to an agreement, and we’ll never hear anything further about it.<\/p>\n

We like to keep you in the loop about all the Vegas chatter we hear, so this is that. Time will tell if the sale comes to fruition.<\/p>\n

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Want to explore more stories? Read about US gambling here:<\/strong><\/p>\n