After a nearly four-year investigation, New Jersey gaming regulators told MGM Mirage it needs to “disengage itself from any business association” with Pansy Ho, a Hong Kong businesswoman who owns 50 percent of the MGM Grand Macau, the company’s $1.25 billion Chinese gaming resort that opened in December 2007.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, MGM Mirage said the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement issued a confidential report to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission on Monday recommending that Ho, the daughter of controversial Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho, be found unsuitable as a business partner. The division asked the commission to set a hearing date on the matter.
If New Jersey gaming authorities press the issue further, MGM Mirage could be faced with one of two choices: either sell its 50 percent interest in the Borgata, an Atlantic City casino it co-owns with Boyd Gaming Corp., or sell its 50 percent share of the MGM Grand Macau, which is located near Wynn Macau in the Chinese enclave.
JPMorgan gaming analyst Joe Greff told investors it was unclear how the New Jersey ruling will affect the company.
“In our view, the best case scenario is nothing happens, and the company perhaps just suffers loss of face,” Greff said.
Union Gaming Group partner Bill Lerner thought a sale of either property wouldn’t be bad for MGM Mirage. Neither is considered a core asset to the company’s earnings and a sale would provide liquidity to the casino operator’s balance sheet.
In its SEC filing, MGM Mirage said it didn’t believe the report would impact operations.
“MGM Mirage has fully cooperated with the (division) in its investigation,” company spokesman Gordon Absher said in an e-mailed statement. “While we disagree with the recommendation of the (division), we look forward to presenting our position at the hearing.”
New Jersey Casino Control Commission spokesman Dan Heneghan would only confirm Tuesday that the report was submitted and that it was 74 pages long.
“There is not a whole lot we can say,” Heneghan said.
Nevada gaming regulators found Pansy Ho to be suitable business partner for MGM Mirage after a pair of extensive hearings in March 2007.
Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said Tuesday that Nevada and New Jersey have different laws governing how to determine the suitability of a gaming licensee’s business partner. However, he and the control board’s staff had not yet seen the New Jersey report. He said their view of the matter could change if New Jersey regulators relied on different information than Nevada considered.
“If there was evidence not provided to us, then there would be a concern,” Neilander said. “Otherwise, it would seem that the Division of Gaming Enforcement came to a conclusion using the same facts but applying New Jersey law.”
MGM Mirage serves as the landlord for Borgata, the community’s largest resort. In 2007, MGM Mirage announced plans to build MGM Grand Atlantic City, a $5 billion, 3,000-room hotel casino on a 72-acre site it owns in Renaissance Pointe. MGM Mirage postponed the project last year because of economic reasons.
Because of the Borgata connection, New Jersey gaming authorities opened an investigation in June 2005 on the suitability of Pansy Ho, whose 86-year-old father has been alleged by international law enforcement authorities to have ties with Chinese organized crime triads.
Stanley Ho had a monopoly on gambling in Macau until 2004, when Las Vegas Sands Corp. opened the Sands Macau. He continues to be Macau’s biggest casino operator with 18 large and small gambling halls, including the 500-room Grand Lisboa.
He provided his daughter with the subconcession she used to partner with MGM Mirage on the 600-room MGM Grand Macau.
During her Nevada hearings, Pansy Ho said significant portions of her initial $80 million investment into the MGM Grand Macau came from father through a trust fund. However, she said he did not wield any undo influence over her business dealings.
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