Barry Diller is big in the casino and gaming industry.
The mogul’s holding company, People Incorporated, is proposing to acquire MGM Resorts in a deal that values the casino giant at $18 billion. People Inc. (formerly known as IAC) is already MGM’s largest shareholder, owning more than 26 percent of its shares. It proposes to buy the remaining 24.9 percent for $48.30 per share.
In a letter to MGM’s board of directors, Diller wrote that the deal would be financed with cash, plus debt and equity obligations. If the deal is completed, People will own just over 50% of the company and will be the controlling shareholder, with minority investors joining.
He also wrote that he expects to retain MGM’s current management team.
“We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real assets that AI cannot easily replicate or replace and exceptional digital growth opportunities,” Diller, chairman and CEO of People Incorporated, said in a statement. “This conviction has only strengthened over time.” “We continue to believe that the market is fundamentally underestimating the strength and durability of MGM’s assets. We believe that the MGM management team is outstanding, and that there is a compelling opportunity to support MGM’s next phase of growth and help unlock its full value.”
The deal, if approved and completed, would make Diller and People major players in the casino and experiential business, both areas seen as growth opportunities in a crowded media world. MGM Resorts is the world’s largest casino company by revenue, ahead of the likes of Las Vegas Sands and Caesars Entertainment. The gambling business is experiencing disruption thanks to online betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel, not to mention prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket.
However, Diller is betting that the actual experience of traveling to the resort will not be disrupted anytime soon.
MGM Resorts operates 31 resorts in seven states and China, including the MGM Grand and Bellagio in Las Vegas. It gets its name from the MGM film studio, which was also owned by Kirk Kerkorian.
“We fully recognize that the MGM Board will need to consider this transaction under appropriate Delaware procedures, and of course I will absolve myself from any MGM Board deliberations regarding this transaction or any alternative,” Diller wrote to the MGM board. “We would like to assure you that People Incorporated has no intention of selling our existing ownership interest in MGM, or pursuing or voting in favor of any merger or other similar extraordinary transaction that would result in a change in control to another party or in any way impair our economic and voting interests in MGM.”
