Crystals for sale again; Hit-and-run Sheldon

MGM Resorts International isn’t hurting for cash, having just posted a $170 million profit for 1Q15, far outstripping analysts’ projections (and despite an 11% falloff due crystalsto Macao). However, its Crystals shopping mall is back on the market, carrying a $1 billion price tag. The protracted absence of the Conexpo-Con/Agg show — not due back until 2017 — was another hurdle MGM overcame. The company also achieved a benchmark: the first-ever dividend payout on CityCenter to the tune of $400 million. You can say that the ‘new urbanism’ experiment was a long-shot bet by CEO Jim Murren that finally came in.

Murren wasn’t busting any numbers out on the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight but allowed that it was one of MGM’s most successful events ever. No surprise there. He also put in a good word for Las Vegas‘ police and fire departments, whose proactive strategy kept violence to a far-better-than-expected minimum. As for the MGM/AEG arena, Murren said, “We have signed contracts for over half of the suites and are in contact on about another 30% of them.”

Apologizing for the distraction created by Land & Buildings, Murren called its proxy slate of board candidates “truly unwarranted” and said that MGM could look into REIT opportunities on its own, thank you very much. “The stock is done very well over the last five years, up 135% and I’m proud that we’ve been able to rebuild this company throughout this post-recession period,” added Good King Murren.

* No exorcisms are being performed at Las Vegas Sands, according to CEO Sheldon Adelson. In ex-Sands China CEO Steven Jacobs‘ court filing, it accused the company Sheldon-Adelsonof a “process, which would be referred to as the ‘exorcism strategy,’ [which] was planned and carried out from Las Vegas.” However, Adelson did himself no favors in the personal-character department when he said that then-COO Michael Leven wanted to let Jacobs resign and do it in face-to-face fashion. Adelson overrode that, testifying, “He was an evil person, and I wanted him out without the dignity of resigning,” preferably excising him via a telephone call. (Leven has consistently come off as having more intestinal fortitude than Adelson during these hearings.)

The venerable Sands CEO continued to pile the invective on Jacobs, saying the latter “never became important until he squealed like a pig to the government authorities and made up stories for this lawsuit,” and that’s just for starters. If Adelson’s intent is to so denigrate Jacobs’ character that he never works again, he’s doing a very good job of it.

* Although I didn’t make the pilgrimage down to the Las Vegas Strip for the closing of the Riviera (our Anthony Curtis did the honors), I will add my voice to those who thought the old girl had some life in her. The casino’s closure brought a wave of melancholy to many bystanders and Riviera veterans, and its absence means one more big, dark space on the Strip, with a long, lonely walk from Circus Circus up to SLS Las Vegas, all by its lonesome. As for Riv fans, there’s still a week-long liquidation sale, starting May 14. And if you still have chips, a special booth has been set up at Westgate Las Vegas so you can cash out on last time.

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