MGM Resorts International establishes Japanese Venture

American casino operator MGM Resorts International has reportedly inked deal which will see it associate with local financial services firm Orix Corporation in hopes of bringing an integrated casino hotel to the Japanese city of Osaka.

December conclusion:

According to a report by GGRAsia citing local media reports, the alliance had been revealed by Makoto Inoue, Chief Executive Officer for Tokyo-headquartered Orix Corporation, through a Friday briefing after supposedly being formally agreed in December.

Sizeable investment:

Vegas -established MGM Resorts International revealed in October of 2016 it would be ready to spend upwards of $10 billion via a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) on bringing an integrated casino hotel to Japan even though it detailed some 19 months later it would then not wish to hold a marginal stake in such a facility.

Important stipulation:

Local news sources believe that the arrangement is thought to imagine MGM Resorts International and Orix Corporation each owning equal stakes in almost any future integrated casino hotel for Japan’s third largest city with the remainder being held by ‘Osaka corporations’. Although no particular percentages were supposedly said, the casino firm’s Chief Executive Officer, James Murren, declared in May his firm was ‘not going to become interested in being a consortium associate with 20 percent or 30% of something.

MGM accounts for over 25 integrated casino hotels spread across the United States while its MGM China Holdings Limited subordinate runs the MGM Macau and MGM Cotai venues in the gaming hotspot of Macau. The American firm’s creation of a consortium comes as the government of Osaka is shortly set to establish the ‘ask for proposal’ stage of the casino licensing procedure having a eventual winner expected to be unveiled in about one year’s time.