Monday, May 4, 2009

Murren: Bellagio or C-C sale "unlikely"

MGM Mirage reported less-lousy-than-expected earnings numbers today and CEO Jim Murren has begun an aggressive defense of the concept and cost of CityCenter. But I'm more intrigued by an exchange between "Face To Face" host Jon Ralston and CEO Jim Murren to air tonight on Las Vegas One and will be available for viewing at this Las Vegas Sun page.

Ralston teased the outcome of that discussion in his daily e-mail Flash by relating this nugget:

RALSTON: Do you think it's likely you'll sell something else on the Strip?

Murren: I think it's unlikely.

RALSTON: You think it's unlikely?

Murren: I think it's unlikely.

RALSTON: Worse than 50-50?

Murren: Yes.

RALSTON: Really?

Murren: I do.

See! I TOLDJA! If Murren has little expectation of a sale then there's never been any actual negotiations with Wynn or anyone else. Wynn -- as I said from the beginning -- was just playing with the media and his dear ol' pal the Kirkster. It's beyond me why any smart person would take it seriously when Steve Wynn claims he might buy effin' Circus Circus as well as Bellagio or why any credible business journalist would fail realize that if Wynn were in serious talks he wouldn't blab about it to the press. For Wynn to want to own Bellagio again would be like him wanting to remarry his ex-wife. Oh, wait. He did that. But look how that turned out!

On another front, though, how many weeks do ya think it'll be before the Review-Journal re-reports as "breaking news" roughly the same remark when Murren tells it to a news source they don't hate?

2 comments:

Charles in Richmond, VA said...

Be careful Steve. Remember, you believed Steve Wynn when he said he wasn't in negotiations to bring Danny Gans to the Encore.

Anonymous said...

Right now the stocks are riding a wave up (relatively speaking). MGM will resell some of that expensive stock they bought back and if that can bring enough equity to the balance sheet to muddle through without selling,then they won't. But if something bad happens again and the stock is down to $2, talking to Wynn about the Bellagio becomes compelling. Part of being opportunistic is having patience.

SG