Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd is in talks with “over a dozen banks” about acquiring an “around US$2 billion” syndicated loan, reported on Tuesday business news outlet Bloomberg, citing people said to be familiar with the matter.
The report suggested the loan being sought was a five-year, Hong Kong dollar-denominated facility.
The story said the sources of the information had requested anonymity.
Bloomberg stated – citing its own data – that the loan, if transacted, would be MGM China’s first syndicated loan since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report added that, according to Bloomberg’s sources, the proceeds would be for refinancing purposes, although details could be subject to change.
GGRAsia has approached Hong Kong-listed MGM China, seeking comment on the report.
MGM China, which runs the MGM Macau and MGM Cotai casino resorts in Macau, is majority-owned by United States-based casino group MGM Resorts International.
As of December 31, MGM China accounted for “US$3 billion of indebtedness outstanding” from the approximately US$6.4-billion principal amount of debt held on a consolidated basis by the MGM Resorts International group. That is according to the parent’s fourth quarter earnings statement.
CreditSights Inc said in a memo last week that MGM China’s leverage metrics remained “healthy” and could show a “slight improvement” within 2025, following an expected marginal recovery in the firm’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) post-completion of ongoing revamp projects at its two Macau properties.
On the parent’s fourth-quarter earnings call earlier this month, which also discussed the under-development MGM Osaka project in Japan, Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts’ president and chief executive, said that in December, MGM China expanded its Macau market share of gross gaming revenue (GGR) to “over 16 percent,” and “concluded the year at similar levels”.
The group CEO added regarding Macau: “We remain confident, and believe we have proven that sustainable market share in the mid-teens [of percent] is driven by our strong product-innovation teams, and the focus on the premium mass market.”
MGM China reported fourth-quarter revenue of just under HKD7.92 billion (US$1.02 billion), a 3.2-percent increase from a year earlier. The result was up 7.2 percent sequentially.
