Global casino developer MGM Resorts International says it has the financing “in place” for MGM Osaka (pictured in a rendering), Japan’s first integrated resort (IR) with casino. That is according to Sarah Rogers, senior vice president of corporate finance at MGM Resorts, parent of Macau-based MGM China Holdings Ltd.
A ground-breaking ceremony for MGM Osaka was held on April 24. Construction of the complex is expected to be completed in the summer of 2030, with the opening scheduled for around autumn of that same year.
Ms Rogers said MGM Resorts’ financing encompasses equity first, followed by debt at a later stage. She was speaking on Thursday at the Bank of America Securities 2025 Gaming & Lodging Conference in the United States.
“We have the financing in place for Japan and, as of the last quarter, it is JPY380 billion, and spot at the time had us at US$2.6 billion,” stated the executive.
The casino group will invest “about US$300 million” this year, and “around US$500 million to US$600 million” in the following years, “and then the debt will kick in,” stated Ms Rogers.
Regarding the group’s balance sheet, the executive recalled that MGM Resorts “bought back over 40 percent” of its outstanding shares.
“We have messaged that with the excess cash coming down, and with the future obligations for Japan, that will ultimately slow,” observed Ms Rogers.
She added: “But again, if the share price gets to a point where it’s so attractive, that’s something we will continue to consider.”
The Japan casino project – which has been described by MGM Resorts as a JPY1.27-trillion venture overall – is being developed at Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay.
MGM Resorts and Japan’s Orix Corp are the two main partners in the consortium developing MGM Osaka, with the casino firm controlling a 43.5-percent stake. The project also involves a number of other Japanese businesses as minority investors.
Earlier this year, Jonathan Halkyard, MGM Resorts’ chief financial officer, said the consortium had available a “JPY530-billion credit facility” for the Osaka project. He said the bank facility would “kick in … in 2028 and carry the funding through to the opening in 2030”.
