Barry Diller's People Inc seeks to buy MGM Resorts

• Barry Diller’s People Inc, previously known as IAC, has put forward a bid to acquire the remaining 74% stake in MGM Resorts International
• Should the deal succeed, the company will control 100% of the company’s stock and not seek to enact any changes to MGM’s management
• People Inc is offering a price of $48.30 per share in a deal priced at $18bn and funded by cash on hand, debt, and equity

The gambling industry’s merger and acquisition market has just become red hot with a second major deal announced in the space of just several days.

MGM Resorts emerges as second major acquisition target

Just days after Tilman Fertitta announced a $17.6bn deal to acquire Caesars Entertainment and take it private, Barry Diller's People Inc, formerly IAC, has put forward a substantial offer for another Las Vegas operator — MGM Resorts International.

People Inc already owns a substantial 26% stake in the company, and is now seeking to buy out the remaining 74%, which would give it full control of the casino giant.

The bid may end up drawing other potential buyers, but no such parties have emerged just yet, with the company currently offering $48.30 per share for a total of $18bn.

Diller has written to MGM Resorts International’s Board of Directors, detailing the deal, and saying that it would be funded by cash on hand, debt, and equity commitments.

Should the deal go through, People Inc will have the power to make decisions quickly, but no immediate changes would be enacted across the company’s structure, as Diller himself said in his letter, with the existing MGM management team expected to be retained in the event of a successful purchase.

"We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real-world assets that AI cannot easily replicate or disintermediate and exceptional digital growth opportunities. That conviction has only strengthened over time," Diller told the Board in his letter, evidently pleased with the company’s stewardship over the past years.

However, he noted that the market "materially undervalues the power and durability of MGM assets," but expressed confidence in the existing management, which he described as "superb." He said that People Inc was coming in to help support the "next phase of growth and unlock its full value."

While the land-based sector has seen multiple challengers emerge, from the proliferation of online gambling options to the forceful arrival of prediction market platforms, Diller himself is confident that MGM Resorts International's mainstay of offering an in-person experience will remain one of the industry's core pillars.

Diller and People Inc to stick by MGM Resorts, no matter what

Diller has also said that the offer he was putting forward was not a matter of act now or lose it all.

"We fully recognize that the MGM board will need to consider this transaction under the appropriate Delaware procedures, and of course I will recuse myself from any deliberations of the MGM Board regarding this transaction or any alternative," he said in his letter, and added that, whatever the outcome, People Inc would not be looking to sell its stake.

MGM Resorts International has not yet confirmed whether it would accept the bid, whereas Caesars Entertainment, the other casino giant being acquired, has already agreed to the deal, but may exercise its shop-around window to look for other bidders.

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