MGM Resorts International announced plans Thursday morning to raise $500 million in new debt.
By the time the markets closed, the Las Vegas-based casino operator had kicked the financing up to $750 million.
The company said it expects the transaction to close next Tuesday and that it plans to use the funds for “general corporate purposes,” which could include refinancing existing debt or investing in short-term interest-bearing accounts or securities.
The debt will come due in 2028.
At the end of June, MGM had $11.4 billion in total debt, which included $3.7 billion associated with its ownership of real estate investment trust MGM Growth Partners and $2.5 billion with its Macau operating subsidiary, MGM China.
Shares of MGM Resorts closed Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange at $21.93, up 43 cents or 2%.
Separately, United Kingdom-based GVC Holdings – MGM’s 50-50 partner in the operating parent of U.S. sports betting operator BetMGM – released preliminary third-quarter results which indicated that BetMGM was guiding toward full-year 2020 net revenues of between $150 million and $160 million.
BetMGM, which is live in eight states, expects to be online in three more states by the end of the year and in a total of 20 states by the end of 2021. BetMGM launched online sportsbooks in Indiana, Colorado, and West Virginia this year, where it has a combined 15% to 20% market share, and added igaming to its West Virginia business last month.
GVC said BetMGM has a 10% share of New Jersey’s online sports betting market and 24% of the state’s retail sports betting business through the Borgata in Atlantic City.
Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon told investors MGM Resorts hasn’t seen the boost in its stock value that has been witnessed by its sports betting competition in the past month. Other companies in the sports betting conversation have seen a combined price increase of roughly 16%.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
