MGM opens resort, raises stakes in Macau

MGM Mirage Inc. opened a 600-room, Las Vegas-style resort in Macau yesterday with a celebration including fireworks and traditional dancers, raising the stakes in a Chinese gambling haven increasingly crowded by global players.

The $1.25-billion (U.S.) MGM Grand Macau, a joint venture between MGM and Pansy Ho, daughter of Macau gambling mogul and one-time gaming monopoly holder Stanley Ho, is a relative latecomer to the once sleepy former Portuguese enclave, following Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

"We are the last of the six concessionaires to be here, but we're here in a big way and we're going to be a part of Macau for many, many decades to come," Terry Lanni, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Mirage, told hundreds of guests at a black-tie party in the resort's covered plaza, boasting faux castles on its four sides.

MGM was in talks with Dubai World, holder of close to 5 per cent of the company, to extend their relationship in Macau and into China, though nothing had been finalized, said Gordon Absher, vice-president of public affairs.