For the third straight day, MGM Resorts International director Keith Meister added to his growing stake in the casino company.
According to a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, Meister acquired 100,000 shares of MGM on Wednesday, paying roughly $1.09 million for stock priced at between $10.86 and $11.
Meister, the general partner of Corvex Management, a New York-based hedge fund, now controls more than 22.5 million shares of MGM. Since Monday, Meister, through Corvex, has spent more than $18.6 million on MGM stock.
Meister was considered an activist investor in the company, with Corvex acquiring a 3% ownership stake before he joined MGM’s board in January 2019. The same month, Meister was named to an “ad-hoc” committee of the MGM board to evaluate the company’s real estate portfolio and “make recommendations.”
MGM Resorts Board Member Keith Meister/photo via CNBC
Shares of MGM closed Thursday at $11.51 on the New York Stock Exchange, down 26 cents or 2.21%. The stock price was up roughly 1% in after-hours trading.
In a separate filing, new MGM Chairman Paul Salem spent more than $1.97 million to acquire 182,000 shares of MGM at between $10.56 and $11 on Wednesday. The acquisition added to his $3.92 million purchase of MGM stock on Monday. Salem, who became chairman on March 22, now owns 1.32 million shares of the company.
In a January 2019 statement, Meister said Corvex and MGM Resorts have discussed “driving profitable growth” during talks “over the last several months.”
Meister gained notoriety on Wall Street as a key associate of corporate raider Carl Icahn up until 2011 when he launched Corvex in 2011. According to the website Investopedia.com, the hedge fund was started with seed capital from a platform backed by George Soros.
The company made activist moves over the years with Yum! Brands, Inc. – which owns KFC – American Realty Capital Properties, Inc., and Allergan plc.
“With my experience in the gaming industry and other similarly situated companies, I can be helpful in amplifying these efforts. I expect to be a long-term investor in MGM as we work collaboratively to build an even greater company,” Meister said.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
