James Murren, the new chief of MGM Mirage, has said that he plans to dramatically reduce the company’s debts, and will consider casino sales as a way to achieve this goal.
Murren plans to refinance maturing bonds as bank lending resumes and markets open back up. The company may buy back some notes. Murren said that nothing was off the table, “We’re going to pull every lever we feel like we should pull to strengthen this company, to not only weather the recession, but come out of it stronger.” He added “We are certainly not looking to aggressively sell assets, but the point is that we do have assets that are attractive and we are going to be very responsive.”
Murren took over the MGM Mirage company in November, when Terry Lanni quit. The company is the biggest owner of casinos on the Las Vegas strip, owning 10 casinos in the strip. The Las Vegas area has been one of the biggest sufferers from the deteriorating U.S residential real estate company, with prices falling 39 percent last year.
Murren is optimistic, saying “I don’t think anyone was raising money in the bank market in the fourth quarter of ’08. The banks basically put their pencils down for the entire quarter, and now in the New Year, especially with federal help and with the new sense of purpose, the banks are being far more receptive.”
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