MGM Mirage to drop Atlantic City casino for Macao partner

MGM Mirage has confirmed it will unload its stake in a US casino resort to settle a fight with US gaming regulators over the company's Macao business partner.

MGM said it will sell its half stake in the Borgata hotel-casino in Atlantic City within the next 30 months to keep a joint venture in the glitzy Asian gambling hub, which has now leapfrogged Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue.

New Jersey's gaming regulator in May told MGM to cut ties with Pansy Ho, daughter of gaming tycoon Stanley Ho, after deeming her "unsuitable" because of her father's alleged links to Macao's underworld.

Ho, who controlled Macao's gaming sector until it opened to foreign competition in 2002, has denied any ties to organized crime.

Jim Murren, the company's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement posted to MGM's website late Friday that he disagreed with the regulator's assessment of Ho.

But he added that the "best course of action for our company and its shareholders is to settle this matter and move forward."

The South China Morning Post has reported that MGM will seek a Hong Kong listing of its joint-venture casino resort in Macao.

Source: Global Times