MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) has completed its Hong Kong IPO, and stakeholder Pansy Ho, who sold shares in the offering, is now an extremely wealthy woman with a little less control of the gambling mecca.
For a cool $1.5 billion, Pansy Ho sold 20% of her stake in MGM China to the public and another 1% to MGM, so that MGM had majority control of the MGM China venture. The deal makes Ho wealthier than her father (on paper), despite his multitude of casinos in Macau and his former long-term monopoly in the region.
The Ho family takes a step back
This is just another step away from the prominence once held by the Ho family in Macau. When Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) opened the Sands Macao in 2004, it marked the end of the monopoly that Pansy's father, Stanley Ho, had for more than 40 years in Macau. Soon, Steve Wynn joined the fun when Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) built Wynn Macau and the family was left fighting to stay relevant.
Stanley's son Lawrence Ho partnered with Australia's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd. to build Melco Crown (Nasdaq: MPEL). And Pansy Ho turned half a world away to Las Vegas giant MGM Resorts to form a partnership. The siblings allowed their partners to benefit from political ties in the new world of Macau gaming. But it also meant corporations, not individuals, would come to define the future of Macau. The Ho family was still relevant, but in just seven years it has gone from a dominating force to having non-controlling stakes in gaming companies.
Same story an ocean away
We've seen this story play out before. Las Vegas used to be identified with characters like Bugsy Siegel, Lefty Rosenthal, and Howard Hughes before Wall Street money started flowing to the desert.
Today, MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, a public company and a private equity buyout, dominate the Las Vegas Strip. It looks like Macau is slowly headed for the same fate just as the party is getting started.
It's a little bit sad to see larger-than-life figures take a step into the shadows, but that's the way the world works. Eventually, Wall Street will take over every good business.
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