MGM Resorts International has been in discussions over People Inc.'s acquisition offer, according to The Wall Street Journal. It's the latest sign that casino stocks are increasingly becoming M&A targets.
People, Barry Diller's media and internet conglomerate formerly known as IAC, currently owns a 26% stake in the casino operator.
MGM has set up a special committee and advisers to evaluate the proposal, the Journal reported late Friday. On June 1, People Inc. offered $48.30 per share to acquire the remaining 76% MGM shares. According to the article, conversations have intensified this month.
MGM Resorts and People Inc. didn't immediately respond to request for comment from Barron's.
Diller's takeover bid comes after Caesars Entertainment in late May agreed to be acquired by Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta for $5.7 billion.
MGM Resorts stock rose 1.5% to $47.59 on Monday. Among other sector names, Wynn Resorts moved 0.2% higher to $99.97 and Las Vegas Sands added 0.9% to $47.12.
People's June 1 offer of $48.30 values MGM at about $12.4 billion, up slightly from its current $11.99 billion market capitalization. Stifel argued last month that the Caesars Entertainment transaction signals that MGM could be worth around $50 to $55 a share.
MGM and other casino operators have come under pressure in recent years from the growing popularity of online gambling and prediction-markets platforms, like Kalshi and Polymarket.
A decline in visitors to Las Vegas over the past two years has also been an area of concern, even as some Wall Street analysts predict that consumers will be begin to return "Sin City."
Still, casino operators could offer larger companies undervalued exposure to both the growing online gambling opportunity as well as more traditional revenue streams in the U.S. and in Macau.
MGM shares have gained 31% this year and have risen 26% over the past 12 months. But the shares have largely traded sideways for the past five years, underperforming the broader market, and are down 52% from their record close of $99.75 in October 2007.
Last week, Wells Fargo upgraded MGM to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $48.30 up from $33. The firm noted that Diller's bid "puts a floor on the stock" with "optionality to the upside should the bid increase."
Jefferies analysts earlier this month also wrote that growth in the casino operator sector is scarce, but that recent merger and acquisition news "suggests potential catalysts ahead."
"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 wrote on June 1 in a letter to shareholders.
"We continue to believe the market materially undervalues the power and durability of MGM's assets," Diller added.
Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 13, 2026 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)
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