Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has long been a staple of Sin City. His Las Vegas Sands company owns The Venetian, Palazzo, and the Sands convention center, but he recently put The Venetian on the sale block—And it appears that MGM Resorts International is interested.
Let’s take a closer look at whether or not The Venetian will get sold.
Adelson Puts Venetian Up For Sale
The Venetian has been one of the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip that’s had a particularly hard time recovering from COVID-19. Of course, the entire strip – along with Las Vegas as a whole – was shutdown due to the pandemic and they haven’t been able to bounce back. Tourism is way down in Las Vegas and it’s unclear when it’s going to come back. Some casinos now are not even fully open seven days a week going forward as the Park MGM has stated that they’ll be closed midweek during holiday season as they don’t see enough demand to stay open.
As a result, Adelson probably sees that Las Vegas isn’t going to recover for a really long time. After all, the while the Northeast part of the country is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases, that second wave has yet to hit the Southwest. If it comes, that could be a knockout blow for a lot of business. That could be while The Venetian has been put up for sale now – even if the timing doesn’t appear great overall. Things could get worse.
MGM Growth Properties Is Interested
What’s interesting to note here is that MGM Resorts International is uninterested in The Venetian, and have been rumored to be considering selling some Las Vegas properties. However, MGM Growth Properties, which is a real estate investment trust, is the wing of the company that might be interested in picking up The Venetian. MGM Growth is affiliated with MGM Resorts International as the former owns casinos, and the latter is in the business of operating them.
The rumored price tag at this point is about $6 billion, which will include The Venetian, the Palazzo and the convention center. MGM Growth isn’t the only REIT that’s expected to be in the conversation, though, as Vici Properties Inc. is expected to take a closer look. That could force a little bit of a bidding competition – which is exactly what Adelson would love.
Adelson, Sands Going To Reinvest Elsewhere
Although Vegas is in a big rut right now, the reality is they’ve had a great bull run for about a decade. The idea of adding high-end dining, EDM DJ’s to pool parties and all sorts of other non-gambling amenities took The Strip to new heights. Adelson probably feels like he’s cashing out somewhat near the top.
The Sands Corporation isn’t just going to cash out and call it a day, though, as they are expected to reinvest. They’ll be looking at Macau (in China), Singapore and there are rumors that they are squarely interested in cracking Japan.
