One of the most reputable casino operators in the United States, MGM Resorts Limited has agreed to sell its landmark Bellagio Las Vegas property to one private equity company, Blackstone Group LP. MGM Resorts International is a global entertainment and hospitality company that operates a number of luxurious resorts in Detroit, Mississippi, Las Vegas New Jersey, and Maryland.

These include Bellagio, MGM Grand, Park MGM, and Mandalay Bay. The company also has a majority stake in the MGM China Holdings Limited company as well as in MGM Growth Properties. When it comes to its Bellagio Las Vegas facility, it is located on the Las Vegas Strip. The luxurious property opened its doors more than twenty years ago in October of 1998.

The Bellagio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino was built on the demolished property of Dunes Hotel and Casino. The facility is inspired by the stunning Lake Como in Bellagio, Italy. It is famed for its remarkable elegance and of course, its notable features including a massive, eight-acre lake which is situated between the Strip and the main building. The property also has a stunning dancing water fountain, as well as loads of other notable features.

MGM Resorts International to Receive a Cash Infusion

As it was reported by the company’s officials several days ago, the facility’s owner MGM Resorts Limited will soon receive a massive cash infusion equaling around $4.2 billion as the company’s officials agreed to sell its Bellagio property to Blackstone Group LP earlier this month. The first rumors regarding this move surfaced in September following the MGM Resorts International’s decision to offload its famed Circus Circus Las Vegas property to a private entity that is fully controlled by the individual who also controls the Treasure Island Las Vegas facility.

According to the Las Vegas Journal, this latest lease-back business agreement between MGM Resorts International and Blackstone Group LP will see the Las Vegas-based company continue to manage all operations within the Las Vegas facility. It should be noted that Bellagio Las Vegas is one of the most profitable facilities of this kind in Nevada. In order to remain managing operations within the facility, MGM Resort International agreed to pay an annual rent of around $245 million.

Novomatic Acquiring Casino Rivera in Slovenia

In the meantime, another reputable casino operator has expanded its business operations. As it was reported several days ago, Austria-based company Novomatic has just acquired Casino Rivera located in Portorož, Slovenia. With this move, the company brought the number of fully licensed casinos that it owns and operates in this European country to nine. The latest Novomatic purchase was revealed by the Delo and Dnevnik daily newspaper.

The Rivera Hotel and Casino facility is located on the Adriatic coast. Currently, the casino floor offers more than one hundred and eighty gaming positions including electronic roulette games, slots and more. Before this move, Novomatic has expanded its Slovenia-based holdings in June as well after acquiring Casino Princess which was partially owned by the Princess Group International company.

Moreover, over the past several years the Gumpoldskirchen-based company has also acquired many other facilities including Casino Lev located in Ljubljana, and Kongo Casino located near Grosuplje. The Austria-based company also manages luxurious gaming parlous including Casino Joker located in Maribor and Casino Tivoli situated in Lesce along with hotels and casinos in several other Slovenian cities.

Novomatic is one of the biggest gaming technology firms in the world owned by Johann F. Graf who established this gaming behemoth back in 1980. Today, this international company employs over 30,000 individuals in more than fifty countries.

As it was reported by several news outlets, the MGM Resorts International is talking to the Blackstone Group Inc. about selling the iconic MGM Grand resort and equally iconic Bellagio hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. The Blackstone Group Inc. firm is a fully private American equity that specializes in financial services and asset management. The company is based in New York City where its hedge fund, credit, and private equity investment strategies come to life.

The Blackstone Group Inc. was founded thirty-four years in 1984. Shortly after its establishment, the American company became one of the biggest investors when it comes to leverages buyouts and it has managed to preserve this reputation in the last decade as well. As one of the biggest investors in the last years, Blackstone Group Inc. has acquired a number of commercial real estate.

Moreover, since its beginnings, the company has also invested in several notable firms such as Travelport, Vivint, Freescale Semiconductor, United Biscuits, AlliedBarton, Republic Services, EQ Office, Performance Food Group, Merlin Entertainment Group, and Hilton Worldwide. The company’s founders Mr. Schwarzman and Mr. Peterson used to work at Lehman Brothers before deciding to found Blackstone together.

Becoming a Publicly-Traded Company in 2007

Back in 2007, the Blackstone Group Inc. became a publicly-traded company via a massive $4 billion-worth initial public offering. Soon, the company became one of the major privately-owned equity companies to have its shares listed on the public stock market. In addition to its main office located in New York City, the company also has offices in Paris, London, Dublin, Dubai, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Düsseldorf.

As estimated in 2019, the Blackstone Group Inc.’s total assets under its management were around US$470 billion. When it comes to the biggest investments of the company, the Blackstone Group Inc. acquired a number of notable companies during the massive buyout in 2006.

In fact, the company completed some of the biggest leveraged buyouts with several transactions that stand out such as the acquirement of Tele-Denmark Communications alongside several other companies, EQ Office purchased for around $37 billion, Michaels for around $6 billion, Nielsen Holdings, Orangina, and Biomet for $10 billion among many other notable transactions.

MGM Resorts Looking Forward to Lease or Sale Deals for Its Iconic Properties

As reported two months ago, one of the biggest and most reputable resort operators on the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International is currently looking for ways to unlock value for some of its high-end real estate properties including its MGM Grand and Bellagio resorts. The company’s official press release states that the company is pursuing leaseback or sale deals which would see its MGM Grand and Bellagio real estate properties being sold while the company will remain managing attractions including the gaming operations within the aforementioned luxurious properties.

One of the companies extremely interested in these deals is the Blackstone Group Inc. Many experts believe that selling those two high-end, highly desirable Las Vegas Strip real estate assets could easily result in price tags of $7 billion. The company’s interest in Las Vegas properties came for the first time six months ago when the Blackstone Group Inc. showed its interested in acquiring the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip. Hence, there is no surprise in the fact that the Blackstone Group Inc. is now mulling on sales of Bellagio and MGM Grand to expand its growing presence on the Strip.

Paul Ross who used to for MGM Grand Detroit located in Michigan for twenty years decided to sue MGM over alleged discrimination and unlawful termination. MGM Grand Detroit is one of several MGM International Resort properties. Paul Ross was employed as a slot supervisor at the age of twenty-nine. Later on, he has managed to work his way up the business ladder and became an assistant manager.

This forty-nine-year-old was satisfied with his job as he was able to live comfortable and secure with his work done at the casino. Everything was fine and Paul had done a great job here. However, everything changed several months ago in February when the casino management decided to let Paul go. Naturally, his world was suddenly turned upside down and Paul strongly believes that his sudden dismissal was completely unlawful.

Seeking Injunctive Relief and Damages

Hence, he decided to sue MGM Resorts over discrimination and unlawful termination. Shortly after his work contract was dismissed, Ross went to the United States District Court Eastern District in Michigan where he filed a lawsuit against his former employer. In his lawsuit, Paul is seeking injunctive relief and damages over his alleged unlawful dismissal which according to both state and federal laws should have been completely prohibited.

Paul is an African-American and he believes that his color, age or even both played an important role in his allegedly unlawful dismissal. In his lawsuit, Paul also added that his unlawful dismissal could have been fueled by his previously expressed complaints that he lodged against his former employer several years before his ultimate dismissal. Paul had complained about his now-former employer ten years ago over not being given additional free days so that he can take care of his sick daughter who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

At the time, Paul argued that MGM Resorts’ female employers have been given additional free days for no particular reason while the FMLA or Family Medical Leave Act decided that the same courtesy should not be given to Paul who has a serious reason behind his request. At the time, Paul believed that this was a major violation of the Civil Rights Act Title VII from 1964 that specifically prohibits any kind of employment discrimination based on national origin, gender, religion, color and race which Paul believes happened to him.

Claims of Employment Discrimination

In his lawsuit filed against his former employer, Paul Ross also highlighted another incident which happened back in 2015 which also substantiate his alleged discrimination claims. At the time, Paul was forced to escort one gambler out of MGM Grand Detroit for his inappropriate behavior as requested by the casino’s security personnel. As he was doing his job, Ross was attacked and ultimately punched in the face by the gambler he supposed to escort from the casino.

Paul was rushed to the hospital where he required several stitches. Naturally, he was out of work for several days. Despite the fact that this particular incident was fully work-related, Paul was not able to contact any of the compensation personnel working at MGM Resorts for almost three months after he returned to work. Once he finally managed to get in touch with them, he was threatened. Paul was told that his work contract would be terminated unless he applied for absence leave for those missed days during which he was recovering from an injury sustained while working. The casino’s legal team also informed him that he was not entitled to any kind of workers’ compensation as he went to a local hospital instead of an urgent facility chosen by his former employer. In addition to these examples, Ross also mentioned several other incidents in his lawsuit which MGM is facing right now.