MGM Mirage & Peel Plan $1.1bn UK Casino Centres
US casino operator MGM Mirage and UK developer Peel Holdings Plc said on Monday they are considering building four UK casino and entertainment complexes worth more than $1.1 billion if gambling reform goes forward.
The companies plan gambling and leisure centers near Liverpool, Manchester, Salford and Glasgow. The developments would also need local approvals.
US gaming operators are preparing to develop casinos throughout the UK as soon as new laws are passed which would cut casino membership rules and make other changes to give some Las Vegas glitz to gambling halls that now feel like private clubs. Altogether MGM Mirage is considering eight UK casinos, including the four with Peel, and also is in the bidding for racetrack owner Wembley Plc.
MGM plans a roughly $250 million London casino with UK exhibition organizer Earls Court and Olympia Group as well as a complex in Sheffield worth up to $455 million.
It plans to build a casino complex next to the Newcastle soccer stadium in a project with Newcastle United Plc. and last year it bought a 25% in Metro Casinos, Ltd., which has a casino in Bristol.
The deal with Peel is the first stage of what the companies said was a strategic alliance that would also consider other investments.
