Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

June 16, 2009

MGM Mirage Expanding to Egypt

Posted by Hunter

I guess the Luxor was just practice - MGM Mirage is going to put an MGM Grand branded hotel into Giza, the Cairo suburb home to the Great Pyramid.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=101502&p=IROL-NewsText&t=Regular&id=1299491&

I've been to see the pyramids and while they are impressive. I don't know if I can imagine an MGM Grand logo blinking in neighborhood.


Categories: Business of Gaming, MGM Resorts International
Tags: mgm grand, mgmmirage


Comments

Read archived comments (7 so far)
June 16, 2009 12:53 PM Posted by jay

You can see what Maureen is doing here with all these international deals that license the MGM name and brand. Gaming is in debt and isnt gonna grow like they expected with the next 5-10 years out. America will re think how they spend, but Maureen is gonna spin off an MGM company that deals with just hotel/hospitality, and then of course you have gaming as another company (which is mostly Vegas and a few other ares of the United States). This will be the only thing that helps Kirkorian in the long run and helps him to recover some of the billions he has invested into MGM.

June 16, 2009 2:16 PM Posted by parchedearth

I really don't understand where they are going with these deals. What is an MGM branded hotel anyway? Does MGM even have an identifiable image? Based on the properties in Vegas, Detroit, Foxwoods, etc..., I don't really see a coherent image. Do they just want to collect licensing fees, manage other people's hotels, or are they hoping that gambling is legalized in these locales?

What does MGM really bring to the table? I am not sure their brand has much recognition/clout in the hotel industry. Management services - not sure why anyone would chose MGM over Hilton, Mariott, Hyatt, etc... Certainly not in the same class as Four Seasons, St. Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Raffles, Peninsula, etc...

June 16, 2009 8:00 PM Posted by LeoNYC

I think the MGM brand does not have an identifiable image (yet). However, by selling their name brand to a unknown company that is willing to open a hotel/casino, it guarantees them to have access to all vendors and contractors MGM has + the clientele. I think this is a smart step in these hard times for a gambling company.

June 17, 2009 12:15 AM Posted by DavidF

Bear in mind Gamal Aziz, who is responsible for expanding the Non-Gaming side of the MGM Brand, is originally from Cairo, this is probably the one place he has the contacts to make it happen

To me it makes sense, it is only a 550 Room hotel and MGM has several Brands that are ripe for expansion outside of Gaming - I think the Skylofts, THEHotel and Signature concepts could be successfully reproduced elsewhere - Well maybe not the condo side, incidentally the Signature condos are now as low as $130K on the open Market .

Also don’t forget the MGM Name/Brand is not only identified with Gaming, there is also the Movie aspect to it also – while we have not seen the plans, the hotel might be playing to that strength.

June 18, 2009 1:57 PM Posted by Mike P.

Haven't seen this one linked here yet. This piece from Bloomberg quotes Murren denying any intention of selling any strip properties:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aiTxBMrB490I.

There're a few sentences on Murren's view of current business conditions too -- they're no longer getting worse, he says.

June 18, 2009 2:53 PM Posted by mike_ch

Clever wording in effect. "Strip properties" does not include empty Strip land.

June 18, 2009 4:48 PM Posted by detroit1051

Mike P, that's good news, and I hope MGM doesn't sell Detroit's MGM Grand. It's a money machine and a great addition to an otherwise downtrodden city. There are two Michael Mina restaurants, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and a great hotel.
The Pittsburgh Penguins stayed at MGM Grand Detroit which probably explains their Stanley Cup victory in game 7.