According to an individual with knowledge of the transaction, an agreement has been reached between MGM Resorts International and a Simon Property Group Inc. partnership for the acquisition of MGM’s Shops at Crystals mall in Las Vegas for $1.13 billion.
The person, who asked not to be identified because the terms of the deal have not been made public, said the deal may be completed soon. Representatives for MGM Resorts and the Indianapolis, Indiana-based retail real estate investment trust (REIT) Simon Property declined to comment on the deal, according to the Bloomberg report.
Part of MGM Resorts’ CityCenter, in addition to a $9 billion casino, the Las Vegas Strip property consists of a hotel and retail complex co-owned by the Dubai investment firm Infinity World Development Corp. Las Vegas-based MGM has been working on reducing its debt load, partly due to pressure from the activist hedge fund of Jonathan Litt, Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC.
Three years ago, MGM Resorts put the mall up for sale, but after failing to obtain the offers it was seeking, stopped the process. Tourism to Las Vegas has grown since then, the mall has added tenants and real estate values in the city have increased, according to John Knott, head of the casino practice at CBRE Group Inc. in Las Vegas.
Newsletter Real Estate Alert reported the Shops at Crystal deal earlier Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in February, the Paradise, Nevada based gaming company announced it would delay the opening of its $3 billion MGM Cotai until the first part of 2017 due to the struggling casino business in Macau and the scheduled openings of other multi-billion dollar resorts in the region. The company’s profits for the fourth quarter were dragged down by MGM’s Macau operations, overshadowing a strong performance from its operations in the states.