Supplier News

US – MGM to buy remaining shareholding in Borgata for $900m

By Phil - 1 June 2016

MGM Resorts is buying the rest of Boyd Gaming’s 50 per cent interest in Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey for consideration of $900m.

Further, MGM Resorts will buy Borgata’s real property from MGM Resorts and lease back the real property to a subsidiary of MGM Resorts, after which a subsidiary of MGM Resorts will operate Borgata.

It will pay $600mfor Boyd Gaming’s 50 per cent interest, subject to customary working capital adjustments, after consideration of Borgata’s outstanding debt of approximately $600 million, which MGM Resorts will assume and refinance. For the last twelve months ended March 31, 2016, Borgata reported $812m in net revenues and $212m in Adjusted EBITDA.

“Borgata is the premier resort in Atlantic City and a great addition to our growing presence in the Northeast,” said Jim Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International. “While the market continues to experience challenges, Borgata has outperformed and differentiated itself as the undisputed leader in the city. Our decade-long partnership with Boyd Gaming has been a great one, and Borgata’s talented employee base will complement and strengthen our more than 60,000-member worldwide MGM Resorts team. We are excited about the opportunity to bring our market-leading loyalty program, M life Rewards, to the resort and integrate our operations, to position Borgata for further growth.”

Subsequent to the purchase of Boyd Gaming’s 50 per cent stake in Borgata, MGM Resorts and MGP have agreed that MGM Resorts will sell all of Borgata’s real property to MGP for total consideration of approximately $1.175bn.

“We are excited to add Borgata to the MGP portfolio, further diversifying our geographic presence. With this transaction, we are executing on our core growth strategy in prudently building a portfolio of high-quality assets with market leading competitive positions,” said James Stewart, CEO of MGM Growth Properties. “We expect the transaction to result in high single digit percentage accretion to AFFO per share, and pro forma net leverage will remain similar to our current levels.”

Borgata will be added to the existing Master Lease between MGM Resorts and MGM Growth Properties Resorts, and the initial rent payment to MGP will increase by $100m. Consistent with the Master Lease terms, 90 percent of this rent will be fixed and contractually grow at two per cent per year until 2022.

“The Transactions provide numerous benefits to MGM Resorts and creates significant value for our shareholders,” said Dan D’Arrigo, Executive Vice President and CFO of MGM Resorts International. “We expect MGM Resorts to remain net leverage-neutral, as we fully consolidate Borgata’s cash flows into the MGM Resorts portfolio. Looking ahead, we believe the impact of the Transactions remain consistent with our focus on further deleveraging the balance sheet.”

Mr. Murren added: “We are pleased to demonstrate the ability for MGM Resorts and MGM Growth Properties to transact on an accretive basis to both parties and look forward to continue working collaboratively in the future.”

Keith Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Gaming, said: “The development and opening of Borgata in 2003 was an important step in the evolution and growth of Boyd Gaming. Under our leadership, Borgata firmly established itself as the East Coast’s most popular and successful entertainment resort throughout the last 13 years. While we are pleased with the performance of this property, this transaction is an attractive opportunity to immediately unlock significant value for our shareholders. We intend to use the proceeds to reduce debt, further strengthening our balance sheet and accelerating the timeline for reaching our leverage target of four to five times debt to Adjusted EBITDA.”

Mr. Smith added: “The consistent success of Borgata is a tribute to the entire Borgata team, as they have continued to outperform an evolving and challenging Atlantic City market. We thank them for their tremendous contributions to Borgata and Boyd Gaming, and we wish them continued success as they join the MGM team.”