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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2004
People line the edge of the lake at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, after the hotel opened at 5 p.m.
LAS VEGAS >> MGM Resorts International has announced the sale of two casinos that will significantly alter its portfolio of Las Vegas Strip properties.
The Las Vegas-based company announced Tuesday it’s sold the Circus Circus hotel-casino for $825 million to Treasure Island casino owner Phil Ruffin.
The company also sold the Bellagio for $4.25 billion.
MGM and the Blackstone investment group are forming a joint venture that is purchasing the Bellagio and leasing it back to an MGM subsidiary for $245 million annually.
MGM Resorts will get a 5% ownership stake in the joint venture and about $4.2 billion in cash.
Circus Circus opened in 1968. MGM purchased it in 2005.
Casino magnate Steve Wynn opened the Bellagio in 1998 but MGM took ownership in 2000 when Wynn’s Mirage Resorts merged with MGM.
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