Former type Public Successor MGM Mirage Parent organization MGM Resorts International | Fate Merged with MGM Mirage Founded 1974 | |
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Formerly called Circus Circus Enterprises (1974–1999) Industry Entertainment & Hospitality Defunct April 26, 2005; 11 years ago (April 26, 2005) Headquarters Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Founders William Bennett, Jay Sarno, William Pennington Subsidiaries Slots-A-Fun Casino, Circus Circus Casinos Inc | ||
Mandalay Resort Group (formerly Circus Circus Enterprises) was a hotel-casino operator based in Paradise, Nevada. Its major properties included Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur and Circus Circus, as well as half of the Monte Carlo. In terms of market capitalization, it was one of the largest casino operators in the world. Its stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "CIR" and "MBG".
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History
The Group was originally known as Circus Circus Enterprises and originated with Jay Sarno's 1968 opening of the Circus Circus as well as a Circus Circus in Reno, which opened in 1978.
The Group incorporated as Circus Circus Enterprises (CCE) in 1974 to purchase Circus Circus from Sarno at a time when the casino was experiencing financial difficulties.
Circus Circus Enterprises purchased the Silver City Casino and Slots-A-Fun Casino in 1979 for $30 million, then refurbished both the interior and exterior.
The company went public in 1983 and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The original majority owners of CCE were William Pennington, a former oil lease speculator and William Bennett, a former furniture salesman and the manager of The Mint Las Vegas casino. The Group's properties found success in the 1980s offering a Las Vegas experience to families subsequently experimented upon by its competitors. Its converted Circus Circus (originally developed for the upmarket) and later Excalibur properties offered gaming opportunities for adults and separate non-gambling games and theme-park-style experiences for underage visitors under the same roof.
The Colorado Belle, described as unprofitable, was sold in 1984 to Circus Circus Enterprises for $4 million by Advanced Patent Technology and John Fulton, a Southern California restaurateur, and made plans to move it to make room for an expansion of its neighboring Edgewater Hotel & Casino.
The group subsequently developed the Excalibur in 1990, the Luxor in 1993 and the Mandalay Bay in 1999 for which the group was renamed.
The group entered into a joint venture in 1993 with Don Carano of Eldorado in Reno to develop and build Reno's largest and tallest megaresort titled Silver Legacy. The $350 million hotel opened on July 28, 1995. Circus Circus Enterprises then turned Mandalay Resort Group held majority stake in that Reno resort.
Circus Circus Tunica opened on August 29, 1994. The casino was rebranded in 1997 as the Gold Strike Casino Resort and given a more upscale theme. The total cost for the remodel was estimated to be $125 million.
On March 20, 1995, Circus Circus Enterprises announced that it had agreed to acquire Gold Strike Resorts, a closely held budget casino owner and operator, in a deal valued at more than $600 million. At the time of the acquisition Jean, Nevada based Gold Strike Resorts owned the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall, 50% of Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Nevada Landing Hotel and Casino, and Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino. The acquisition did not include the original Gold Strike near Boulder City, because the owners wanted to pass it on to their children.
In 1995, the Hacienda was purchased by Circus Circus Enterprises from Lowden's Archon Corporation. By this time, it was dwarfed by the many new megaresorts that were being built, in particular the Luxor which had just been recently completed. On December 10, 1996, the Hacienda was closed to the public after 40 years, and imploded later that month. This implosion was broadcast on the Fox Network as a part of their New Year's Eve 1996 telecast. Despite the implosion, parts of the old resort still stood, due to the building not falling into its footprint, but toppling into its parking lot. The next day a wrecking crew was brought in to bring down the remaining parts. In March 1999, it was replaced by the Mandalay Bay.
The group was also a partner with Mirage Resorts on the 1996 opening of the nearby Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.
Circus Circus Enterprises closed the Silver City Casino on October 31, 1999.
Following the completion of Mandalay Bay in 1999 the name of the company was changed to Mandalay Resorts Group.
On December 14, 1999, MotorCity Casino Hotel opened.
On May 23, 2002, the Mandalay Resort Group announced a second 1,122-room hotel tower, with a cost of at least $200 million. Construction began on the tower in September 2002. The name of the tower, THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, was chosen in September 2003. The tower opened on December 17, 2003.
On June 4, 2004, one of Mandalay Resort Group's largest competitors, MGM Mirage, announced a bid to acquire it for $68 per share plus assumption of debt. The stock closed at $60.27 per share on June 4. Although the proposal was announced after the close of trading on June 4, the volume of trading in Mandalay Resort Group stock on that day was quadruple the normal, with the stock closing at $60.27 per share. The ensuing negotiations between the two companies included at one point an announcement that the Mandalay board was rejecting the offer because of antitrust concerns. On June 15, 2004, however, both companies' boards approved a revised offer of $71 per share. The agreement called for MGM Mirage to pay $4.8 billion and to assume $2.5 billion in debt. The transaction was completed on April 26, 2005 for $7.9 billion.
MGM executives were confident that antitrust regulators would not require the sale of any of the two companies' properties. Michigan law, however, forbade one company from owning multiple casinos, requiring the sale of either the MGM Grand Detroit or Mandalay's 54% stake in the MotorCity Casino. After some vacillation about which property to sell, Mandalay accepted a $525-million offer for its interest in MotorCity from Marian Ilitch, the casino's second largest shareholder.