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Wynn Resorts ceases talks with MGM to sell $2.6 billion Massachusetts casino

May 21, 2019 at 10:00 pm EDT

(Reuters) - Wynn Resorts Ltd said on Tuesday the company has decided to stop talks with MGM Resorts International to sell its Encore Boston Harbor casino.

"After careful consideration we have agreed to cease discussions with MGM Resorts," Las Vegas-based Wynn said in a statement, adding it is still committed to opening and operating the 671-room casino.

The two companies announced last week that Wynn Resorts was in talks to sell its nearly finished $2.6 billion (2.04 billion pounds) Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett, Massachusetts, to rival MGM.

MGM in response said in a statement the company would not continue talks with Wynn Resorts regarding the Massachusetts casino.

"We have noted the anxiety raised by various stakeholders regarding a transaction and this troubles us at MGM ... We think the best course of action is to discontinue discussions concerning this opportunity", MGM said in the statement.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission in April fined Wynn Resorts $35 million for not disclosing sexual misconduct allegations against founder and former chief executive officer Steve Wynn, but allowed the casino operator to keep the licence for its Encore Boston Harbor casino due to open in June.

(Reporting by Sathvik N in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Stocks treated in this article : Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International

Stocks mentioned in the article

	Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
	WYNN RESORTS, LIMITED	96.93 USD	+0.86%	-8.35%	10.77B
	MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL	42.56 USD	+1.23%	-5.99%	13.33B

Steve Wynn

Stephen Alan "Steve" Wynn (born January 27, 1942) is an American business magnate. He played a pivotal role in the 1990s resurgence and expansion of the Las Vegas Strip. His companies refurbished or built what are now widely recognized resorts in Las Vegas, including the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, Wynn, and Encore.

Now, as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Wynn Resorts, Limited, Wynn has developed Wynn Las Vegas, which opened on April 28, 2005; Wynn Macau, which opened in September 2006; Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, which opened December 22, 2008; and Encore at Wynn Macau, which opened on April 21, 2010.

As of June 2014, Wynn is the 428th richest man in the world with a net worth of $4 billion. Wynn was raised in Utica, New York, and graduated from The Manlius School, a private boys' school east of Syracuse, New York, in 1959. Steve Wynn studied cultural anthropology and English literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.

In 1963, his father died of complications from open heart surgery in Minneapolis, leaving $350,000 of gaming debts, shortly before Wynn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.

Career

Frontier and the Golden Nugget
Wynn took over running the family's bingo operation in Maryland. His success allowed him to invest in a small stake for the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where he and his wife, Elaine, moved in 1967. Between 1968 and 1972 he also owned and operated a wine and liquor importing company. He managed to parlay his profits from a land deal in 1971 (the deal involved Howard Hughes and Caesars Palace) into a controlling interest in the landmark downtown casino, the Golden Nugget Las Vegas (he would later open the Golden Nugget Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey). Wynn renovated, revamped and expanded the Golden Nugget from a gambling hall to a resort hotel and casino with enormous success, in the process attracting a new upscale clientele to downtown Las Vegas. Frank Sinatra was a headliner at the Golden Nugget. Wynn maintains a relationship with Sinatra family, and named a restaurant at Encore “Sinatra”.

Source @ Wikipedia

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