The owners of the CityCenter project in Las Vegas, in which Dubai World has a 50 per cent stake, plan to raise more than US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) from the sale of bonds in an effort to restructure its extensive debt pile.
CityCenter Holdings, the owner of the giant hotel and entertainment complex, wants to sell $1.1bn of debt in a private placement.
Half of CityCenter Holdings is owned by a subsidiary of MGM Resorts, with the remainder owned by Infinity World, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai World.
"CityCenter plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to reduce its obligations under its existing credit facility … to, among other things, extend the maturity of the remaining loans for four years," MGM said.
Since its opening more than a year ago, the casino and hotel development has been operating in a challenging environment.
In November, MGM Resorts posted pre-tax impairment charges of $182 million related to its investment in CityCenter and $46m related to its residential property.
The resort, which cost $8.5bn to build, has an equity value of $2.6bn. In the nine months to September, CityCenter made a loss of $963.1m, including $600m in writedowns.
"They're probably looking to raise debt to retire old debt and roll it over for a longer term," said Haissam Arabi, the chief executive of Gulfmena Alternative Investments. "This is good news. It gives them a chance to raise cash flow."
The project was planned during a period of economic growth. But the development opened after Las Vegas' hospitality and property sector had been battered by the global economic downturn.
CityCenter's main attraction is its 4,004-room Aria gaming resort, which opened in December 2009.
The 27-hectare Las Vegas Strip complex also includes the Cirque du Soleil show Viva Elvis, 2,400 condominiums and luxury non-gaming hotels including Las Vegas' first Mandarin Oriental. There is also a 46,450 square metre retail and entertainment district and a $40m fine art collection.
MGM Resorts has signed agreements to open properties across the world, including in China and Egypt, as well as in Dubai.
The company plans to open hotels under its Bellagio, MGM Grand and Skylofts brands as part of the Dubai Pearl development.
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THE%20SPECS
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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The specs
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Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
