MGM Resorts International (MGM)

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Long But G@@D Read.

MGM MIRAGE, Inc.
Hotels: 13; Rooms: 35,948

Controlled by majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian.
NYSE: MGM | mgmmirage.com | Hoovers profile | Wikipedia profile


By far the largest player in Las Vegas, MGM MIRAGE controls half of the Las Vegas Strip. The majority shareholder is financier Kirk Kerkorian who owns about 51.65% through his private investment firm, Tracinda Corp.



Projects
Being built:
CityCenter
A 50/50 venture (through CityCenter Holdings LLC) between MGM Mirage and Dubai World (through subsidiary Infinity World Development Corp.), holding company for the emirate of Dubai.
The country's largest private construction project. Opening in phases from 2009 will be:

ARIA, a 4,004-room, 60-story tower designed by Cesar Pelli (Pelli Clarke Pelli) will be the main hub of CityCenter.
The Harmon Hotel and Residences, a 400-room hotel (2010).
Mandarin Oriental, another 400-room hotel with 207 condos called The Residences at Mandarin Oriental.
Vdara Condo Hotel. A 50-story ebony tower with about 1,495 condos that can be rented out as hotel rooms.
Veer Towers condos. Twin 37-story towers with 670 condos.

On Hold (as of 2008):
Unnamed 40-acre Strip/Sahara project
A 50/50 venture with Kerzner International (13% owned by Dubai World), who built the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. Situated on 40 acres on the north end of the Strip, opposite the Sahara and near the Stratosphere and Circus Circus. The project was announced in June 2007 with a 2011 opening but was put on indefinite hold in October 2008.


History
The company started in 1962 when Kirk Kerkorian -- a fellow aviator and rival of Howard Hughes -- bought his first Las Vegas land. The International hotel (today's Las Vegas Hilton) followed in 1969 and various hotels were bought and sold. The MGM MIRAGE name comes from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio (famous for the film Grand Hotel), which Kerkorian bought in 1969, and Mirage Resorts (Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio), which was acquired from Steve Wynn in 2000 for $6.4 billion.

In 2005, MGM MIRAGE bought Mandalay Resort Group (Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo) for $7.3 billion. Mandalay Resort Group started life as Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc. (1974-1999). Circus Circus was built by Jay Sarno and Stanley Mallin (who had previously opened Caesars Palace) but they ran into financial trouble. Starting in 1974 and completed in 1983, Del Webb casino manager William Bennett and partner Bill Pennington took over control and ownership of Circus Circus. Their company, Circus Circus Enterprises, went public in 1983. Bennett opened Excalibur (1990) and Luxor (1993) before retiring in 1995. (Bennett then bought the Sahara for $193 million). The company opened Monte Carlo (1996, a joint venture with MGM) and Mandalay Bay (1999), then renamed itself Mandalay Bay Resort Group (1999-2005) after the more upscale property.

In August 2007, Dubai World, the holding company for the emirate of Dubai, invested about $5 billion in MGM Mirage. For that, Project CityCenter became a 50/50 venture between MGM Mirage and Dubai World (through subsidiary Infinity World Development Corp.), and Dubai World received about 9.5% equity stock of MGM Mirage.

In January 2009, MGM agreed to sell the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (2885 rooms, opened 1993) to Phil Ruffin for $775 million (including debt).



Equity Holders of MGM MIRAGE
Kirk Kerkorian
through Tracinda Corp 53.9%
Dubai World
through Infinity World Development Corp. 9.4%
Marsico Capital Mgmt LLC 8.3%
Private Capital Mgmt Inc. 6.1%
Capital Research and Mgmt Co. 4.8%
There are about 293 mililion shares outstanding