Are US casino operators Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International talking merger?
Wynn shares shot up over 7% on Thursday while trading volume more than doubled after CNBC analyst and professional shouter Jim Cramer mentioned the possibility of a tie-up between the two firms. Neither company has offered any public comment on Cramer’s rumor report.
Wynn has been on the outs lately, losing $44m in the first quarter of 2015 as Macau’s casino market continues to struggle and Wynn’s Las Vegas properties struggled to make up the difference. Last month, Wynn’s largest stockholder, mutual fund outfit T. Rowe Price Group, sold off more than 40% of its stake in the casino operator.
The merger rumor was a hot topic at Thursday’s annual general meeting of Wynn rival Las Vegas Sands, during which an investor asked Sands boss Sheldon Adelson if the company had ever considered making a play for Wynn Resorts. Adelson replied that Sands and its investment bankers “have considered all possibilities” although he cautioned that the team hadn’t reached any conclusions.
But Adelson went on to say that a buyout was “only a remote thought,” in part because of his respect for Wynn boss Steve Wynn. Adelson praised Steve for helping to change the face of both Macau and Vegas “so you can’t the say the man is not a very good operator.” Moreover, Adelson believes that “one has to consider that the name of the property is ‘Wynn’. And if Wynn isn’t still there are running them, are the properties still as good?”
While Adelson insisted that he was ‘not interested in having any confrontation with a friend,” he couldn’t resist taking a sideways shot at his rival. When an investor remarked that Wynn’s share price had dipped below $100, Adelson noted that Wynn had “one-eighth the number of shares outstanding” compared to Sands. “So you’re not comparing apples to apples. You’re comparing apples to rice.”
