MGM Resorts International

MGM Resorts International is an American global gaming, hospitality, and entertainment company that operates 16 domestic casino properties, two casino resorts in Macau through its 56% stake in MGM China Holdings, and a growing digital gaming business through LeoVegas and its 50% stake in BetMGM, generating $17.5 billion in consolidated net revenue in fiscal 2025. The company is also developing what is expected to be Japan's sole licensed integrated resort in Osaka, targeting a 2030 opening.

This is a story about a collection of irreplaceable physical assets throwing off substantial cash while funding a portfolio of growth bets — digital, Asian, and a future Japan IR — that have yet to prove their combined return on capital. The Las Vegas Strip portfolio generates roughly half of revenue and the majority of segment profit, but the asset-light model (all domestic real estate is leased under triple-net agreements carrying $1.8 billion in annual rent) means the enterprise is more leveraged to operating performance than a glance at the balance sheet suggests. The file turns on a single question: whether the free cash flow generated by the legacy resort business is durable enough to bridge the company to a future where MGM China, BetMGM, LeoVegas, and Osaka contribute meaningfully to equity value before the lease obligations consume too much of the pie.

The report was written as MGM confirmed receipt of an unsolicited $48.30-per-share all-cash acquisition proposal from People Incorporated (Barry Diller's IAC) for the 74% of shares it does not already own, an offer the stock promptly traded through — a market verdict that the sum of MGM's parts may be worth more than the bid but less than management's ambition.