{"text":[[{"start":9.35,"text":"Barry Diller’s People Inc has made an $18bn takeover bid for MGM Resorts, the casino operator behind the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, as the billionaire who made his name in Hollywood seeks to refocus his business around gambling and publishing."}],[{"start":24,"text":"People Inc, MGM’s largest investor with a 26 per cent stake, said on Monday that it had submitted an all-cash bid of $48.30 per share for the remaining MGM stock it does not already own, equating to a 10.6 per cent premium to the last closing price."}],[{"start":41.05,"text":"Shares in MGM were up 15 per cent at midday on Wall Street, pushing the stock close to a five-year high — after Diller went public with his proposal in a letter to MGM’s board."}],[{"start":54,"text":"Diller, who serves on the gambling group’s board, said he would recuse himself from any deliberations over the deal."}],[{"start":60.6,"text":"The pursuit of MGM would mark the latest reinvention for Diller, the media maverick who built his reputation in Hollywood before assembling a portfolio of internet businesses through IAC, recently renamed People Inc. "}],[{"start":72.95,"text":"People Inc recently cut jobs and sold assets to focus on its core publishing businesses, including titles such as People magazine and Entertainment Weekly, as well as its increasingly important stake in MGM. "}],[{"start":86.35000000000001,"text":"Diller’s group said it expects to own a slim majority of MGM’s shares if the nonbinding offer results in a deal. Other investors, potentially including existing MGM shareholders, would hold a minority interest."}],[{"start":98.7,"text":"People Inc is projecting adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between $310mn and $340mn this year. MGM reported adjusted ebitda of $2.4bn last year."}],[{"start":114.45,"text":"“We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real-world assets that AI cannot easily replicate,” Diller said on Monday. In recent years, Diller has argued that investors should focus on businesses rooted in physical experiences. "}],[{"start":134.3,"text":"MGM said on Monday that it “will carefully review and consider the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the company and all of its shareholders”."}],[{"start":144.3,"text":"The potential deal would mark another big bet on Sin City, which suffered a significant drop in visitor numbers last year for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. MGM has a 40 per cent share of the Las Vegas Strip."}],[{"start":156.9,"text":"Last week, billionaire Tilman Fertitta struck a $17.6bn deal to buy MGM’s rival Caesars Entertainment through his Fertitta Entertainment group. Similar to Fertitta’s deal for Caesars, Diller vowed to maintain MGM’s management team, including chief executive Bill Hornbuckle."}],[{"start":175.05,"text":"In the letter to MGM’s board Diller said the company’s businesses were “not currently realizing their full potential in the public markets and that it will be difficult to correct this situation in MGM’s current form”. "}],[{"start":189.35000000000002,"text":"MGM also co-owns the BetMGM gambling app alongside UK gaming group Entain. "}],[{"start":203.35000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780367598_1092.mp3"}