Casino Owner Vici Properties to Buy MGM Growth Properties
Real-estate investment trust Vici Properties Inc. agreed to buy MGM Growth Properties LLC in a deal that values the casino real estate owner at $17.2 billion, including debt.
Under the agreement, casino operator MGM Resorts International will receive about $4.4 billion in cash. MGM Resorts spun off MGM Growth Properties in 2016 and still controls the REIT, whose portfolio on the Las Vegas Strip includes Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur and MGM Grand Las Vegas.
In recent years, MGM Resorts has sold some of its real-estate holdings, using the proceeds to focus on new business areas including sports betting, entertainment and a casino development in Japan.
MGM Resorts said it would keep a roughly 1% stake in the Vici operating partnership, worth about $370 million.
Under the agreement, MGM Growth Properties shareholders would swap each Class A share for $43 in newly issued Vici stock, a 16% premium over MGM Growth Properties’ closing price Tuesday.
