In Macau and billionaire businesswoman Pansy Ho Chiu-King (pictured) has reportedly banked approximately $86 million after offloading a 0.4% stake in American casino operator MGM Resorts International.
According to a report from GGRAsia, the 58-year-old had held a 1.36% interest in the Las Vegas-headquartered firm but sold slightly over two million stocks last week at an average price of $42.99 to take her remaining investment down to 0.96%. The source detailed that the three-tranche move came a little over two months after Ho had pocketed around $56.7 million courtesy of the similar disposal of a 0.3% stake.
Timely transactions:
Ho is the daughter of late Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-Sun and has now reportedly cleared in the region of $397.4 million since November via a series of deals involving an aggregate 2.17% stake in New York-listed MGM Resorts International, which is the parent of Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Limited.
Local leaning:
MGM Resorts International reportedly awarded Ho with 4.8% of its common stock in September of 2016 as part of the arrangement that took its own interest in MGM China Holdings Limited up to 55.95% at the expense of the former actress. This transaction, which moreover came with a cash element worth in the region of $100 million, resulted in the businesswoman retaining a 22.49% shareholding in the Hong Kong-listed operator behind Macau’s giant MGM Cotai and MGM Macau properties.
Patron petition:
This latest move from Ho reportedly moreover comes about five months after alternative investments firm Snow Lake Capital urged MGM Resorts International to begin reducing its interest in MGM China Holdings Limited. The Hong Kong-headquartered enterprise purportedly argued that such a disposal would allow the local subordinate to free up capital that could help with its bid to continue operating in the former Portuguese enclave beyond the termination of its current license in June of 2022.
Sean Ma, the founder of Snow Lake Capital, reportedly made his plea via an open letter to MGM Resorts International and proclaimed that such a move would ‘create a win-win transaction for all parties involved and deliver significant shareholder value to both companies’. The businessman furthermore disclosed that four Chinese companies encompassing property developer Sunac China Holdings Limited, hotel operator Huazhu Group, online travel firm Trip.com and local Internet platform doyen Meituan had already expressed an interest in buying a stake in MGM China Holdings Limited.
Recent reversal:
MGM Resorts International is reportedly soon hoping to enter the Japanese casino market by winning a 40-year gambling license for the city of Osaka. However, this multi-billion-dollar plan could purportedly now be in jeopardy after its net profit for 2020 declined by over 122% year-on-year largely owing to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic to a deficit of $448 million.