MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM) took yet another step today to repair its debt-laden balance sheet and keep its creditors at bay.
It wants to raise $2.5 billion by issuing stock and senior notes to help chip away at its $14.4 billion in debt. In return, MGM Mirage gets a waiver from lenders for certain covenants and the easing of some restrictions.
The proposed fundraising puts MGM Mirage in the same financing league as Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), which have romanced investors in recent months.
More future fixes
However, bond and stock deals aren't the only part of MGM Mirage's financial repair effort. It sold one Las Vegas casino/hotel (Treasure Island) for $775 million in March, and other asset sales are a possibility.
The company's latest 10-Q statement, filed a few days before today's announcement, noted that MGM Mirage has granted to lenders security interests for the assets of casino/hotels in Detroit and Tunica, Miss. Today, the company said its proposed $1.5 billion private placement debt offering would be secured by a first priority lien on most assets at its Bellagio and Mirage properties in Las Vegas.
MGM also wants to sell 81 million shares of common stock, hoping for gross proceeds of $1 billion. Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda, which owns 53.8% of MGM Mirage, will purchase 8.1 million of those new shares. The shares and the senior notes will be used to help pay off part of a senior credit facility, redeem certain notes due in 2017, and purchase some senior notes coming due this year.
It ain't over
The latest financial and asset moves should provide breathing room for the rest of the year, but the story continues. Morningstar points out that MGM Mirage has more than $1 billion coming due next year.
Meanwhile, I wonder if those traders who recently bragged about buying MGM Mirage's stock in the single digits got out of the stock quickly. If they didn't, they took a hit today, as shares are down more than 30% as I write this.
For cautious investors, recent events are like visiting Las Vegas to partake in the buffets and to watch the singers, dancers, comedians, or magicians. You can enjoy the show without gambling.
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