Kerkorian Takes 10% of $1B MGM Offering

LAS VEGAS-The largest shareholder in MGM Mirage Corp. snapped up a little more than 14 million shares of the company’s 143-million-share common stock offering last week, according to SEC documents filed Monday. Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. held 149 million shares prior to the offering for a 53.8% stake. Tracinda’s purchase of 10% of the $1-billion offering gave it 163.3 million shares but the offering expanded the shares outstanding by nearly 50% to 419.5 million shares, leaving Kerkorian with a 39% stake.

Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. agreed to purchase 14.3 million shares prior to the offering being priced, according to the SEC filing. At $7, the purchase price was $99.9 million.

Analysts said the offering coupled with a $1.5-billion senior secured note offering should keep bankruptcy off the table for at least a couple of years. Shares of MGM closed the trading day Monday at $8.74, up nearly 14%.