When MGM Resorts’ sale of the dirt under Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel was approved last week, MGM also revealed that it had a bidder for its 50% stake in the actual building. While the true identity of that bidder has yet to be confirmed, sources believe it to be Leonard Green & Partners LP, a LA-based buyout firm which manages about $9B in assets. Boyd Gaming, who own the other 50% stake in the Borgata, have right of first refusal on the sale, and are said to be still considering their options. The sale is expected to generate around $250M, which sounds like a lot, until…
On the other side of the world, Macau’s year-to-date gross casino revenues have risen to almost $16.7B. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s already more than was recorded in all of 2009, representing a year-on-year growth tally of 60.1%. Baccarat and VIP baccarat accounted for some 90% of revenues, slots brought in around 5%, and the sum total of horse and greyhound racing, Chinese and instant lotteries, plus football and basketball lotteries added less than 1% to the bottom line. What can they say? In Macau, baby got baccarat.
