MGM gets ready for Japan

CEO of the company indicated that a consortium to build a casino would likely be Japanese-led.

Japan.- James Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International said during a presentation at The Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Japan Conference last week that a consortium to manage a casino in the Asian country would be Japanese-led, even though he didn’t specify if MGM would only look for a minority stake.

During the briefing, the CEO said that the opening date for a casino might be pushed to 2025, and that the government selection of business operator parents is likely to happen sometime next year, with the concession of licenses from the government happening a year later. “We commit to being a good partner to Japanese companies in a Japanese-led IR [integrated resort] consortium,” said Murren.

The official said that Japanese partners would likely be in charge of customer service, innovation, technology and project development, whilst MGM would operate the entertainment and marketing sector, as well as MICE and casino operations. The company has already said that it is interested in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama.

Last month, the company named Jason Hyland as representative officer and president of MGM Resorts Japan LLC. The new MGM representative has renowned experience in business development in Japan, as he was charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the United States embassy in Tokyo, according to an official MGM statement. MGM Resorts International has also announced that it will relocate the current office from Akasaka to Otemachi, Tokyo.

“In addition, MGM [Resorts] will allocate development specialists from the U.S. to Japan as it increases its total development staffing in the U.S. and Japan combined to more than a dozen, reinforcing MGM Resorts Japan’s organisational structure as it works to realise a Japanese resort,” stated the company.