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MGM gets OK from state to sell interest in Borgata
From Press staff reports
ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey gaming regulators this morning approved a settlement with MGM Mirage Inc. that puts the Las Vegas company’s half-ownership of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa up for sale.
MGM agreed to the settlement to preserve its controversial partnership with Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho for a casino in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.
The company will place its ownership of Borgata in a trust until the sale is completed. MGM also plans to sell its Atlantic City land holdings as it prepares to pull out of the nation’s second-largest gaming market. Boyd Gaming Corp. owns the other 50 percent of Borgata and has first rights in the MGM sale.
MGM is leaving Atlantic City following an investigative report by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement that labeled Pansy Ho an “unsuitable” partner for the company. The report, publicly released this morning, characterized Pansy Ho as a front for her father, Stanley Ho, a Macau casino tycoon reputedly tied to Chinese organized crime.
MGM “simply substituted” Pansy Ho for her father as its Macau partner after the company feared Stanley Ho would not have received regulatory approval in the United States, the report said.
MGM released a statement defending its partnership with Pansy Ho. The company said that the Division of Gaming Enforcement acknowledged there is no evidence that she engaged in any wrongdoing herself or been accused of illegal activity.
MGM Mirage structured its business relationship with Pansy Ho to ensure the highest standards of operation and compliance with all applicable gaming laws and to protect against any improper influence," the company said.
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