MGM Resorts International Reportedly in Early Talks to Buy Wynn Boston Harbor
Wynn Resorts is considering selling its forthcoming, partially-built Everett property to competitor MGM, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Planned Wynn casino in Everett. Rendering by Wynn.
Wynn Resorts may be on its way out of Massachusetts.
The company, which is under strain following sexual abuse allegations made against its founder, Steve Wynn, has entered into preliminary discussions with MGM Resorts International to sell its forthcoming Everett property. According to the Wall Street Journal, conversations between Wynn Resorts executives and leaders at MGM are in their early stages and deal exclusively with the partially-built Wynn Boston Harbor property.
Wynn Resorts is under investigation by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and is proceeding in Everett on an “at-risk basis,” according to commission chairman Stephen Crosby. The Gaming Commission is examining whether Wynn violated the state’s suitability standard when he applied for a license to build here, as well as how the company handled allegations made against him.
In a statement to the Boston Globe, Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox said that though the company is still interested in a Massachusetts property, leaders have to take the uncertainty of the investigation and their future here into account moving forward.
“We remain very excited about the Boston market,” Maddox said in the statement. “However, our obligation to shareholders is always to maximize the value of our assets and to mitigate risk.”
Last month, Wynn executives told the Boston Herald they were “absolutely considering a rebranding” of the $2.5 billion Everett property set to open in June 2019. In the wake of the sexual abuse accusations, both Gov. Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey supported scrubbing “Wynn” from the building’s name.
In January, the Journal published a bombshell story detailing a decades-long pattern of Wynn’s sexual abuse. Wynn, who denies the allegations, has since resigned from his role atop Wynn Resorts and sold off his company stock.
If MGM does end up buying the Wynn Boston Harbor property, it would likely need to sell the casino it plans to open in Springfield this fall because Massachusetts law prohibits casino companies from operating more than one property in the state, according to the Journal.
