Malaysia's Genting Bhd said it would purchase an unfinished resort on the Las Vegas strip from Boyd Gaming Corp for $350 million, marking the Asian gaming group's first push into the U.S. gambling mecca. The deal is also expected to give a boost to the Las Vegas economy, which was hit hard by a collapse in the housing market following the financial crisis.Genting said it would build a hotel-casino resort on the 87-acre site of Boyd's uncompleted Echelon project, which was halted in 2008 during the financial crisis. The planned complex, Resorts World Las Vegas, will have 3,500 hotel rooms, 175,000 square feet of gambling space, and convention and luxury dining facilities, Genting said."The property represents one of the last major, developable sites on the Las Vegas strip, with a considerable frontage along the South Las Vegas boulevard and full entitlement to apply for a non-restricted gaming license," Genting said in an announcement to the stock exchange late on Monday.Nevada Governor Brian Sandavol said in a statement that the resort would bring "several thousand" jobs to the state.
Boyd Gaming Corporation (Boyd Gaming) is a multi-jurisdictional gaming company. Shares of BYD traded higher by 14.4% or $0.93/share to $7.39. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $4.75 and as high as $8.52. On average, 2302300 shares of BYD exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 10662574.
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