Las Vegas-based casino resort operator MGM Resorts International said Tuesday it signed a joint-venture deal for development of a 200-room hotel in Shanghai, China, that will be branded with MGM Resorts' luxury Bellagio name.
This is the latest of several nongaming resort development announcements around the world for MGM Resorts in recent years.
The company on Tuesday said one of its joint ventures, Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality Ltd., signed an agreement with Suning Real Estate Group, a subsidiary of Suning Group, for the Suning Bellagio Shanghai Bund hotel.
The Shanghai Bellagio hotel will be on a prime site owned by Suning on the Shanghai Bund, a development along the Huangpu River, MGM Resorts said.
It will be managed by Diaoyutai MGM, MGM Resort's joint venture with hotel company Diaoyutai State Guest House that already operates the MGM Grand Sanya resort on Hainan Island in China.
The Shanghai hotel, which MGM Resorts said would have world-class retail and entertainment amenities, is expected to be completed in 2015.
"This strategic partnership with Suning further extends our reach into China, one of the fastest-growing hospitality markets in the world. Along with our Diaoyutai JV partners, we believe relationships like this with Suning create new opportunities to expand our brand reach into this strategically vital marketplace," MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren said in a statement.
The joint venture in China is also developing the Diaoyutai Hotel Beijing and Lama Temple, a boutique hotel due to open this year. Other projects include the MGM Grand Tianjin and Skylofts at MGM Grand Tianjin, to open in 2014, and the MGM Grand Chengdu and the Skylofts there, also scheduled to open in 2014.
Financial terms for the Shanghai hotel were not immediately disclosed. One of the benefits of the deals is that MGM Resorts can gain exposure in the big Chinese market — where it has a casino resort in Macau — for its brand names with minimal capital investment.