Mandalay buyout prompts changes in management

By Liz Benston (contact)

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 11:02 a.m.

While the ultimate outcome of a combined MGM Mirage-Mandalay Resort Group remains tightly under wraps, sources familiar with the company say it intends to divvy up control of the Mandalay properties among its executives rather than create and maintain a separate Mandalay Resort Group operating unit.

That way the properties will have a better chance of maintaining individual identities, the sources said.

When MGM Grand bought Mirage Resorts in 2000, the companies created two operating units, with MGM Grand properties on one side and Mirage properties -- including the Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island resorts -- on the other.

State and federal regulators have not yet approved MGM Mirage's $7.9 billion buyout of Mandalay Resort Group.

MGM Mirage also will shuffle a few executives into new roles in anticipation of the deal, according to sources familiar with the company.

Bill Hornbuckle, president of MGM Mirage Europe, will run Mandalay Resort Group's flagship Mandalay Bay, the sources said. Bill McBeath, president of the Mirage resort, will become president of Bellagio, they said.

Bobby Baldwin, president and chief executive of Bellagio, will retain his position as president and chief executive of Mirage Resorts.

The top executives of Mandalay Resort Group are expected to leave the company, the sources said.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman declined to comment on the changes, saying the company won't disclose potential changes before the deal is considered by Nevada regulators.

"We believe that the proper manner for unveiling the proposed management structure of the new company is to do so at our hearing in front of the Gaming Control Board and subsequent Gaming Commission," he said.

Feldman also declined comment on the company's post-merger structure. He said the company over the years has maintained a philosophy of having each property compete on its own merits with others in the MGM Mirage family.

"History will show that when MGM and Mirage merged, each individual property maintained its individual identity and culture and began a process of growing that identity," he said. "There has never been a one-size-fits-all policy at this company."

"We tried to be very respectful of each of those properties and tried to let them grow accordingly," he added.

Separately, Nevada's top casino regulator said both the MGM Mirage buyout of Mandalay and Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Inc. have not yet been scheduled for consideration by the Gaming Control Board.

"We will not calendar a matter until the federal government has completed its review," Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said.

Harrah's and Caesars said Wednesday they had "substantially" complied with the Federal Trade Commission's requests for information on their $9.4 billion merger. MGM Mirage and Mandalay made a similar announcement in November.

Neilander declined to speculate on when the Control Board might receive word from the Federal Trade Commission about either deal.