MGM Resorts International has hired James Stewart as chief executive officer and Andy Chien as chief financial officer at its new trust, MGM Growth Properties LLC, the real estate investment trust comprised of 10 of its properties. Stewart and Chien will lead the formation of the trust and its initial public offering and will be based in Las Vegas.
Both had been executives with the Los Angeles office of Greenhill & Co., a New York-based investment bank, where Stewart was a managing director and head of the gaming, lodging and leisure group, and Chien was a managing director of real estate, gaming, lodging and leisure.
MGM Resorts Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said, “James and Andy are well known and highly regarded investment banking leaders, and they bring to MGM Growth Properties more than 40 years of collective advisory and financial experience that we believe is critical to establishing a solid foundation for MGM Growth Properties. As we continue our path toward the creation of MGM Growth Properties, the knowledge and expertise that James and Andy bring will be invaluable in positioning it as a leading real estate investment trust.”
In October, MGM Resorts announced the company would create the REIT for seven Las Vegas Strip properties: Mandalay Bay, the Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Luxor, Excalibur and the Park. MGM Growth Properties will also own the MGM Grand Detroit in Michigan, as well as the Beau Rivage and Gold Strike Tunica in Mississippi.
Previously Murren stated MGM Resorts will own 70 percent of MGM Growth Properties.
