Tag Archives: Pansy Ho

MGM China’s IPO in Hong Kong

May 20, 2011 By in Asian economic development, Casinos, China, Current Market Thoughts, Entertainment, Hong Kong, Industry Analysis, Stock ideas Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

the IPO details

According to Bloomberg, details, including pricing, for the IPO of MGM China, have been set.  MGM China is currently a 50/50 joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Pansy Ho, daughter of Stanley Ho.   The stock is going to debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange–presumably next week–through a secondary offering of 760 million shares by Ms. Ho.  The IPO price will be set by underwriters at between HK$12.36 and HK$15.34.

If we assume that the high end of the range represents a 20x multiple on expected 2011 earnings per share, which is where I view Wynn Macau as trading today, that would mean MGM China could earn HK$.75-HK$.80 this year.

timing of the offer is very favorable

The Macau gaming market is booming.  The publicly traded stocks have been exceptionally strong performers, year to date.

the IPO means cash for Pansy Ho, not MGM

In this respect, the offering is different from the listings of WYNN’s and LVS’s Macau gambling subsidiaries, where the shares sold in the offering came from the US-based parent.

a bit of history

Stanley Ho, Pansy’s father, controlled the monopoly casino company in Macau when it was a Portuguese colony.  After the handover to China in late 1999, the government of the new Macau SAR decided to end the monopoly.  It issued a new gaming concession to Mr. Ho, but also awarded one to Wynn Resorts and to Galaxy Entertainment.  Subsequently, each of the three was allowed to sell a sub-concession to another party.  Mr. Ho chose MGM.  He originally proposed a 50/50 joint venture between himself and MGM.  The Nevada gaming authorities apparently told MGM this was unacceptable because of Mr. Ho’s alleged underworld connections, and Pansy Ho replaced her father as the Ho family partner.

structure of the sale

Pansy Ho will provide all the stock being sold.  1% will go to MGM, giving it a 51% stake and making it the majority owner of MGM China.  Another 20% will go to the investing public (Paulson & Co. and Kirk Kerkorian, the largest shareholders of MGM, are together putting in for about 8% of the issue).  It also appears that Ms. Ho has agreed to a 3% overallotment, meaning that the underwriters can increase the size of the issue by that amount, if demand is strong.

So, rather than having a large cash inflow from selling stock, MGM will pay Ms. Ho about US$75 million to gain legal control of the venture.

The news isn’t really so bad for MGM, however.

Not content with keeping the transaction simple, Ms. Ho has apparently agreed to invest several hundred million dollars of her IPO proceeds in securities of MGM Resorts.

Also, pricing at the top end of the range (which is where I would guess the IPO will end up) implies that MGM’s stake in MGM China is worth just under US$4 billion, or about half of the parent’s market cap.  From now on, we’ll probably see the same sort of “tail wagging the dog” effect on MGM shares as we’ve witnessed over the past year with WYNN and LVS.  Given the still parlous state of the Las Vegas market, this is perfectly understandable.  I interpret the recent strength in MGM shares as the start of this behavior.

Pansy Ho’s role in MGM China?

The IPO will confirm Ms. Ho’s status as a multi-billionaire.  Other than that, your guess is as good as mine–maybe better.

As I wrote in more detail a little while ago, in a bizarre sequence of events earlier this year, control of the Ho family gambling concession–by far the largest in Macau, accounting for about a third of the market–appears to have been taken away from Stanley Ho by, among others, Pansy.  Press reports suggest Pansy has resigned from the board of MGM China–though I understand the IPO documents say otherwise.  As I indicated in my earlier post, my reading of the situation is that Ms. Ho wants to present herself as a passive investor in MGM China while she fights for control of the family company.

It’s ironic if the IPO is the vehicle Ms. Ho is using to distance herself from MGM China.  That’s because the IPO seems to me to undermine the argument of the New Jersey gaming authorities that Ms. Ho is completely financially dependent on her father–and therefore unsuitable to hold a casino license.

My guess is that a smaller role in MGM China by Ms. Ho will make little operational difference, and may make both MGM and MGM China more palatable to US investors.



IPO of MGM China this quarter?

April 18, 2011 By in Casinos, Entertainment, Industry Analysis, Stock ideas, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

MGM China, a new company

Last Wednesday MGM filed an 8k describing the formation of a new company, MGM China, which will be the listing vehicle for the Macau casino properties now held in a 50/50 joint venture by MGM and Pansy Ho.  Each will initially own 50% of MGM China.

an intended IPO

MGM and Ms. Ho intend to sell 20% of MGM China to the public in Hong Kong in an IPO that press reports say will happen next month.  The 8k notes that the parties will use their best efforts so see the IPO occurs before June 30th.

a secondary offering

The IPO will be a secondary offering, meaning no new shares will be created; rather the present owners will sell some of their existing shares.

all shares to be sold by Ms. Ho

The post-IPO ownership structure of MGM China will be somewhat of a change, though, because all the stock being sold to the public will come out of Ms. Ho’s portion.  In addition, Ms. Ho will sell another 1% of MGM China to MGM at the IPO price, giving MGM 51% ownership and clear control.  The underwriters of the issue will have an “overallotment” of 3%, meaning they have permission to sell up to 23% of the company.

post-IPO structure

Depending on the overallotment, the post-IPO structure of MGM China will be:

MGM     51%

Pansy Ho     26%-29%

the public     20%-23%.

One potential sticking point might have been that none of the money raised goes to cash-strapped MGM.  Ms. Ho has addressed this issue by agreeing to use US$311 million of the IPO proceeds to buy MGM convertible bonds.

The IPO will be coming at a good time

The Macau gambling market is booming, with revenues through the first three months of 2011 running over 40% higher than in 2010.  And so are the Hong Kong-listed gaming stocks.  Market leader SJM (0880) is up 35% year to date, Wynn Macau (1128) has gained 58% and Sands China (1928) is 26% higher.

The IPO solves a problem for Pansy Ho

The offering documents will doubtless make the situation clearer, but press reports say Ms. Ho resigned from the board of directors of the Macau joint venture at the end of last year.  I presume this was to allow her to vie for control of the much larger SJM, the flagship of the Ho family gambling empire, that has recently been taken out of the hands of Ms. Ho’s father, Stanley.  Macau law prohibits one person from controlling two gambling concessions.  Her reduced holding in MGM China may be sufficient evidence that Ms. Ho is a passive investor in the firm for authorities to allow her to become chairman of SJM.

One other plus:  MGM has agreed to explore co-investing in property on the mainland with Ms. Ho.

How will Hong Kong investors value MGM China?

I find this a hard one to figure.  As the recent performance of  1128 and 1928 suggest, I think Hong Kong investors are beginning to understand the value of the American casino operation model.  But I have no idea if the market will regard the withdrawal of Ms. Ho from MGM China as a plus or a minus (my guess is that it will be the latter).  At this point, I’d expect the IPO will raise well over US$1 billion, US$2 billion a possibility.  The offering documents, and the May report of the Macau Gaming Coordination and Inspection Bureau on gambling receipts, will make the situation clearer.

MGM’s stock went up 8% on the IPO announcement.

One reason is doubtless the US$300+ million cash infusion.  Another is that MGM gains control of MGM China.  More important, I think, is the tendency of the Las Vegas-Macau casino conglomerates to trade on the value of their listed Macau operations.  For example, WYNN’s holding in 1128 represents 75% of the parent’s market capitalization.  Establishing more firmly what MGM’s Macau interests are worth will likely give the parent stock more speculative appeal.

My very preliminary take is that a $14 MGM price already discounts a $2 billion IPO.  At the same time, this would make it clear that you’re only paying $3.50 or so for the rest of MGM, making the stock look like a turbo-charged warrant on improvement in the Las Vegas market.