MGM Resorts (MGM) has announced it is prepared to sell land from the Borgata hotel in Atlantic City with a price tag of $73 million.
The Borgata land will be purchased by Vornado Realty Trust and Geyser Holdings from both MGM and co-owners Boyd Gaming (BYD). The cost works out to about $6.5 million per acre, with a total parcel of about 11.3 acres.
New Jersey regulators would need to sign off on the deal, which is expected to close by the fourth quarter of this year.
J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff said "We view this as a very modest positive in that there are still buyers of Atlantic City assets out there, at least at the right price. We don't necessarily interpret news as any indication that MGM is closer to selling its 50% stake in Borgata."
This move is a precursor to the original intentions of MGM announced earlier in the year, when the casino operator declared it was going to divest its 50% stake in the Borgata casino and hotel itself.
Even after the sale of the Borgata land, MGM will own close to 85 acres in Atlantic City.