MGM Resorts to Remain Standalone as People Incorporated Withdraws Bid

MGM Resorts International confirmed in a September 23, 2026 announcement that People Incorporated has withdrawn its proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company that it does not already own. The Las Vegas-based gaming company said it will continue as a standalone company. The withdrawal ends an acquisition approach People Incorporated first submitted to the MGM board on June 1, 2026.

MGM Resorts said a special committee of its board of directors participated in negotiations with People Incorporated over the past several months to advance the interests of its shareholders.

Chairman Cites Las Vegas Position and BetMGM Momentum

“The Board remains excited to continue to lead MGM Resorts as a standalone company,” said Paul Salem, Chairman of the MGM Resorts Board. “Our leading position in Las Vegas, our best-in-class regional properties, and BetMGM’s continued momentum highlight the value we bring to our shareholders. In addition, our international portfolio of MGM China and the significant opportunity ahead with MGM Osaka support a clear path to increasing shareholder value.”

Terms of the Withdrawn Proposal

People Incorporated, previously IAC, submitted the non-binding proposal on June 1, 2026, offering $48.30 per share in cash for all outstanding MGM shares it did not already own, according to the bidder’s June 1 announcement. People Incorporated said the offer represented a 24.1% premium to the volume-weighted average price of MGM common stock for the 30 trading days ending May 29, 2026, a premium of more than 30% to the stock’s volume-weighted average price for the 90 trading days ending the same date, and a 10.6% premium to the most recent closing price.

The bidder said it owned 26.1% of MGM’s outstanding common stock at the time. Its letter to the MGM board said the firm began investing in MGM in 2020, based on its view that the company represented a durable growth business not easily displaced by technology.

“We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real world assets that AI cannot easily replicate or disintermediate and exceptional digital growth opportunities,” Barry Diller, People Incorporated’s Chairman and Senior Executive, said in the June release. “That conviction has only strengthened over time.”

Diller also said he believed the proposed transaction would deliver significant benefits to the shareholders of both companies, giving MGM shareholders the opportunity to de-risk their investment and realize immediate value in cash for their shares. He said People Incorporated was confident in its ability to execute a transaction promptly with engagement from the MGM board.

Under the proposed structure, MGM would have become a private company. People Incorporated said it expected to own just over 50.1% of the post-closing equity and would control the business, with minority ownership by other investors that could have included some current MGM shareholders. The letter said the bidder expected MGM’s current management team would continue to lead the business.

People Incorporated said it expected to fund the transaction with a combination of existing cash on hand at People Incorporated and MGM plus additional debt and equity funding commitments, and said the transaction would carry no financing condition. The letter said the proposal was subject to customary conditions, including the negotiation and execution of a mutually satisfactory binding agreement, limited competition approvals and applicable gaming regulatory approvals.

The letter said People Incorporated expected to complete its confirmatory due diligence quickly, in parallel with the negotiation of definitive transaction agreements and finalizing required financing, and that it was prepared to work expeditiously toward a definitive transaction. Diller wrote that he would recuse himself from any deliberations of the MGM board regarding the transaction or any alternative, and the letter acknowledged that the MGM board would need to consider the transaction under the appropriate Delaware procedures. The letter reserved People Incorporated’s right to withdraw or modify the proposal at any time, and the company said it intended to promptly file an amended Schedule 13D, the securities disclosure required of large shareholders, reflecting the submission of the proposal.

MGM’s Initial Response to the Offer

MGM said in a June 1, 2026 release that it had received the offer that day, and that its board, in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, would carefully review and consider the proposal to determine the course of action it believed was in the best interests of the company and all of its shareholders. MGM told shareholders they did not need to take any action at that time, and said it could provide no assurances that the proposal or any subsequent proposal would result in an agreement or a transaction.

People Incorporated’s June 1 letter also confirmed that the firm had no intention to sell its existing ownership stake in MGM, or to pursue or vote in favor of any merger or other similar extraordinary transaction that would result in a change in control to another party or meaningfully dilute its economic and voting interest in MGM.