Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to be acquired
Morgans Hotel Group Co. (NASDAQ: MHGC), a hospitality company that owns and operates boutique hotels in gateway cities under brands such as Mondrian, Delano, and Hudson, today announced it is to acquire the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, an adjacent 23-acre land parcel, and other related assets from Peter Morton for an aggregate purchase price of $770 million in cash.
Features of the property include an 11-story Hard Rock Hotel tower with 647 guest rooms; a 30,000 square foot casino; a beach club with a swimming pool that was selected by the Travel Channel as one of “The Top 10 Pools” in the world; the Body English nightclub; “The Joint” concert hall; five restaurants, including the world famous Nobu; three cocktail lounges; several retail stores; and an 8,000 square foot spa, salon and fitness center.
The adjacent 23-acre land parcel, including a 544-unit apartment complex currently situated on the parcel will be held for further development.
This transaction represents the third planned offering in the Las Vegas market by Morgans Hotel Group. The Company has already announced a joint-venture partnership with Boyd Gaming for their development project, Echelon Place, that will be anchored by two prominent MHG brands, Delano and Mondrian, which are expected to add a total of 1,600 rooms to the market in 2010.
Some Wall Street investors thought the deal was too “pricey”, while others felt that Morgans Hotel Group, a new public company, had limited credibility compared to a better established company, causing Morgans’ shares to drop $1.56, or 8.7 percent, to $16.39 during afternoon trading on the Nasdaq on May 12th.
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