Gaming :

MGM Mirage launches international gaming division

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008 | 12:23 p.m.

With the U.S. economy in the tank and foreign countries more open to big gambling resorts, MGM Mirage is amping up its expansion efforts with a new division focused on international gaming expansion.

Lloyd Nathan, who joined the company in 2002 and most recently served as managing director of MGM Mirage International in Hong Kong, heads the new Global Gaming Division.

The division will be part of the company's MGM Mirage Hospitality subsidiary, formed last year to export the MGM Grand brand worldwide by managing hotels owned by local partners and licensing the MGM brand to hotel operators.

The hospitality unit licenses the MGM name for the hotel at the MGM Grand Foxwoods casino and is developing nongaming resorts with partners in the United Arab Emirates and China.

"We believe there are significant opportunities for MGM Mirage Hospitality to develop luxury resort properties outside of the United States, which will include gaming in appropriate venues," MGM Mirage Hospitality President and Chief Executive Gamal Aziz said in a statement.

The unit's first international gaming project will be the proposed MGM Grand Ho Tram casino resort in Vietnam, which MGM Mirage will manage for owner and developer Asian Coast Development Ltd.

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