MGM Resorts will contribute the real estate associated with 10 of its properties, including than 24,000 hotel rooms, and the REIT will assume approximately $4 billion of debt, according to a statement Thursday.
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MGM Resorts says it earned $66.4 million in its third quarter, a turnaround from a loss a year ago.
The casino operator’s shares jumped more than 10 percent in Thursday premarket trading.
The properties being contributed to the REIT include seven large scale Las Vegas resort and entertainment properties and three regional casino properties.
The master lease is expected to provide the REIT with a right of first offer with respect to MGM Resorts’ development properties in Maryland and Massachusetts.
MGM said it would retain full ownership of the Bellagio and MGM Grand Las Vegas, among its most profitable operations, which together accounted for about 46 percent of its wholly owned domestic resorts’ operating income in 2014.
During August, MGM said it has begun a revamp aimed at increasing focus on streamlining operations and boosting profits, but offered no specific details. The Asian gambling enclave has seen fewer VIP gamblers as a result of the government’s anti-corruption crackdown.
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MGM had been under pressure from activist shareholder Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC, which in May called off its proxy fight. The activist investor had sought a spinoff of MGM’sChina business. Net revenue company wide declined 8 percent to $2.28 billion.
