Las Vegas loves high-stakes gambles, and two big ones were announced today. The Venetian Resort Las Vegas and Sands Expo—a meeting planner favorite and site for years of IMEX America—are being sold in two separate deals.
Total price tag: $6.25 billion.
With the sales, the property’s current owner, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, exits The Strip and the city to concentrate on its Asian casino resorts. The deals come barely two months since the death of Sands patriarch Sheldon Adelson, the longtime CEO.
VICI Properties will buy The Venetian and Sands Expo for $4 billion. Vici is a New York City-based real estate investment trust specializing in casino properties. It was formed in 2017 as a spin-off from Caesars Entertainment Corporation. It already owns 29 casinos, hotels and racetracks, as well as golf courses, throughout the United States.
At the same time, Apollo Global Management is acquiring the operations at the property for $2.5 billion. Apollo, also based in New York City, is a private equity firm that manages capital for fund investors like university endowments, charitable foundations and pension funds in dozens of countries. Previous ownership stakes in the hospitality industry have included Harrah’s Resorts and Diamond Resorts International.
“This investment underscores our conviction in a strong recovery for Las Vegas as vaccines usher in a reopening of leisure and travel in the United States and across the world,” a company statement said.
Sands officials said selling the resort is “bittersweet.” The late Adelson opened The Venetian in 1999 and the adjoining The Palazzo in 2007, both on the site of the original Sands hotel.
Because it will no longer have ownership in the city, the company is shortening its name from Las Vegas Sands to Sands Corporation.
“This company is focused on growth, and we see meaningful opportunities on a variety of fronts. Asia remains the backbone of this company and our developments in Macao and Singapore are the center of our attention,” said Sands Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein in a press release.
