MGM Resorts International sells its land under Atlantic City’s Borgata for $73 million

MGM Resorts sells land under AC’s Borgata

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — MGM Resorts International has sold its land under Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa to Vornado Realty Trust and Geyser Holdings for $73 million.

It’s part of the casino company’s forced exit from the nation’s second-largest gambling market over its ties to the daughter of a reputed Chinese mob boss.

The sale covers just over 11 acres and involves ground leases and the land on which part of the Borgata sits.

MGM is selling its half interest in the Borgata following an ultimatum from New Jersey casino regulators that it sell its 50 percent stake in Atlantic City’s top casino, or cut ties with Pansy Ho, its partner in a casino in the Chinese enclave of Macao.

Ho’s father Stanley has long been accused of ties to Chinese organized crime, which he denies. MGM chose to keep its relationship with Ho and walk away from the Borgata.

Considered the father of modern gambling in China, Ho lets criminal gangs “operate and thrive” inside his casinos, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement said in a report issued to the casino in May 2009 and made public in March. The division found that Pansy Ho, his daughter, is dependent on him and his money and remains under his influence.

The regulators concluded that Pansy Ho is an “unsuitable” business partner of MGM in Macau. The company admits no wrongdoing and says it has a “spotless record” operating the MGM Grand Macau with Pansy Ho.

Tuesday’s sale involves only a part of MGM’s land holdings, and not its ownership in the Borgata itself, which it is also planning to sell.

“This is the land owned by the company that is the land under the Borgata,” company spokesman Gordon Absher said.

MGM Resorts still owns about 85 acres of other buildable land in Atlantic City that is not involved in Tuesday’s sale, about 70 acres of which is adjacent to the Borgata.

MGM and the buyers stuck a deal on July 2, and following an inspection period, announced Tuesday that they will proceed toward a closing expected to occur in the fourth quarter of this year.

The land sale still has to be approved by New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission and Division of Gaming Enforcement.

The company is still seeking a buyer for its half ownership in the seven-year-old Borgata, which consistently leads the Atlantic City market in terms of revenue and general buzz.

Its co-owner, Boyd Gaming, has the right of first refusal to buy MGM’s share.

MGM Resorts owns 15 casino properties in Nevada, Mississippi and Michigan, and has 50 percent investments in three other properties in Nevada, Illinois and Macau.