GGRAsia – MGM China issues US$1.5 bln of new debt to be listed in HK

MGM China issues US$1.5 bln of new debt to be listed in HK

May 17, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd has issued US$1.5 billion of new debt, its parent company says.

The parent company, United States-based MGM Resorts International, told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that its subsidiary had issued US$750 million of 5.375 percent senior notes due 2024 and US$750 million of 5.875 percent senior notes due 2026.

MGM Resorts said MGM China intended to use the money raised to repay other borrowing, and to pay the costs of the debt offering.

MGM China announced separately on Thursday it had applied to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to have the new debt listed at the exchange and that it expected the debt to be listed there on Friday.

MGM China intended at first to offer US$1.25 billion of new debt. But on May 8 the parent company announced that its subsidiary was increasing the size of the offering of to US$1.5 billion in two tranches of different tenors.

In March, MGM China chief executive Grant Bowie told GGRAsia that the extension until June 2022 of his company’s sub-concession to run casinos in Macau made the company better able to finance its business.

Mr Bowie said of the extension: “It’s positive, because clearly the term of the concession is the principal asset of the company. So that is seen to be positive, and it does give us the opportunity to look at alternate financing strategies moving forward, particularly preparing us for future capital investments.”

MGM China has plans to add to its facilities in Macau. The company has plans to build another tower at MGM Cotai, its second and most recent Macau resort. MGM Cotai had a capital cost of HKD27 billion (US$3.4 billion) upon its launch in February last year.

Nomura’s Instinet LLC said in a Thursday note that it expected business at MGM Cotai to ramp up following the opening of 20 of the 27 Mansion suites at the property at the end of the first quarter 2019. “Mansion” is a branding term used by the MGM group to describe some luxury accommodation within its properties in several markets.

The Japanese brokerage said the opening of the Mansion suites “should help [MGM] Cotai’s ramping process, particularly with respect to in-house VIP”. The note followed a meeting with management of MGM Resorts at Nomura’s annual gaming, leisure and lodging conference in New York.