MGM Resorts has confirmed that any bid it launches to develop an integrated casino resort in Thailand will be done through its Macau subsidiary MGM China.
The company’s CEO and President, Bill Hornbuckle, told investors during MGM’s 2Q24 earnings call that he and MGM China Chairperson and Executive Director Pansy Ho would visit Thailand in August to explore the opportunity, with the Ministry of Finance due to deliver the findings of a feasibility study into legalized casino gaming in the weeks ahead.
“[Thailand] is a venture that we’re interested in and if we do that, we’ll do it through MGM China Holdings,” Hornbuckle said. The MGM Resorts boss had previously outlined the company’s interest in pursuing Thailand, stating in a previous earnings call that “the cost to do business there, the margins that could be had would be compelling.”
CLSA analysts this week suggested Thailand could become a US$15 billion market if fully realized, with four of Macau’s six concessionaires said to be interested in pursuing a license.
MGM Resorts, meanwhile, has also showed interest in the UAE where it is part of a development in Dubai that will boast three MGM-owned hotel brands. The company is looking to incorporate casino gaming into that development, or alternatively in Abu Dhabi, although any such action is dependent on either of those Emirates deciding to issue a casino license at all.
Nevertheless, Hornbuckle described as “great news” this week’s announcement by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) that it had issued the UAE’s first lottery license.
“This is something they said they would do, so I’m encouraged that the rest of this will roll out as defined now,” he said of the UAE regulator.
“Timing is still unknown, it kind of keeps moving around, but I can’t imagine by end of this quarter or into early next quarter that we won’t know with some specificity around what it means for Abu Dhabi and then potentially what the umbrella language is as it relates to all of the other Emirates.
“We’re excited by our position in Dubai where we and our partner have an amazing facility property that’s under construction as we speak and has an accommodation for large scale casino [if licensed], so there are a lot of opportunities throughout the region.”
Hornbuckle noted that the UAE’s license is “going to be spoken for”, referencing Wynn Resorts’ ongoing development in Ras Al Khaimah, but said “I would suggest that each Emirate will have its own opportunity to issue a license and we’ll continue to follow that closely, particularly for Dubai.”
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