Bank of America Merrill Lynch calls Blackstone (BX +0.6%) a credible counterparty for a large scale MGM Resorts (MGM -0.9%) real estate transaction.

Digging into the numbers, BAML says a 3rd party sale by MGM would require a premium above the ~14X that MGM Growth Properties (MGP -0.5%) trades at and that has been paid for other Las Vegas assets by VICI. "Assuming 15-17x EBITDA and 1.8x rent coverage, Bellagio and MGM Grand could yield gross proceeds of up to $7B and would be highly accretive to MGM, which trades at ~10x 2019E EV/EBITDA," reasons analyst Shaun Kelley.

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported on potential interest by Blackstone for Bellagio and MGM Grand.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3499821-baml-breaks-possible-mgm-casino-deal?dr=1#email_link