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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

MGM Resorts cleared to re-enter ailing Atlantic City market, (NYSE: MGM)

MGM Resorts International won regulatory permission on Wednesday to re-enter the Atlantic City casino market after a 20-month investigation focusing on the company's ties to Pansy Ho, the richest woman in Hong Kong, who New Jersey gaming regulators considered an unsuitable partner. The unanimous vote by New Jersey's Casino Control Commission caps a years-long saga that effectively forced MGM to give up control of its interest in the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, one of Atlantic City's best-performing gaming properties in a town that has seen its fortunes fade fast."When I look over the last nine years, I see a company that looked for a way to get to the most lucrative gaming market on the planet," said the commission's chair, Matthew Levinson. "But I also see a company that took steps to remedy problems created by those shortcuts."In 2005, New Jersey's gaming enforcement division began investigating MGM's affiliation with Ho, whose father Stanley Ho built a gambling empire in Macau. MGM had a joint venture in the southern Chinese territory with Pansy Ho, considered financially dependent on her father, who was under scrutiny for alleged ties to organized crime.Before New Jersey reached any findings, MGM pulled out, putting its 50 percent Borgata ownership into a fund controlled by a trustee, who was supposed to sell the interest if MGM did not find buyers.

MGM Resorts International is a holding company. The Company is a hospitality company. Shares of MGM fell by 0.45% or $-0.11/share to $24.18. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $18.40 and as high as $28.75. On average, 6889350 shares of MGM exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4706419.



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