I’ve speculated elsewhere — I believe it was on the TwoWayHardThree forum — that Genting Bhd might be a logical, even inevitable successor, should MGM Mirage bail out of Macao. Seems that while I was laid up, news surfaced that Genting insiders are selling shares and rolling up a $425 million nest egg. They’ve also snapped up $100 million in secured MGM Mirage notes.
MGM Grand Macao co-owner Pansy Ho‘s dad, Stanley Ho, has played footsie with Genting in the past — something the Singaporean government frowned upon fiercely. Hence the delicate footwork that key Genting players will have to execute if they’re to convince Singapore (where Genting is building a multi-billion-dollar resort) that there’s more than an arm’s length between any potential dealings with the Ho family and Genting’s investments on Sentosa Island.
That’ll be a difficult minuet to dance but for what’s been called “the golden ticket” — entry to Macao — Malaysian investors would surely find it worth twirling an ankle or two. Unless Boyd Gaming has waived its right of first refusal on Borgata, this sudden accumulation of Malaysian cash can have one purpose only.
