MGM Resorts International’s MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay casino properties are being sold for $4.6 billion in a deal involving private equity giant Blackstone Group.
A new joint venture between the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and MGM Growth Properties will buy the splashy Las Vegas Strip complexes, which have more than 9,700 hotel rooms and about 300,000 square feet of casino space combined, the companies said.
The joint venture will lease the properties to MGM Resorts, which will continue to operate and manage them — meaning nothing should change day-to-day for gamblers and guests. The annual rent for the properties will start at $292 million, according to MGM Growth Properties.
MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren said the sales are part of the company’s “asset-light” strategy, which has seen it sell off other casinos in recent years. Blackstone bought MGM’s Bellagio casino for $4.25 billion last year.
