MGM Signals Possible Bid for Barry Diller’s People Inc. as Casino Dealmaking Accelerates

In a twist that few on the Las Vegas Strip saw coming, MGM Resorts International is now weighing whether to buy the company that just weeks ago tried to buy it.

MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle, speaking at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this week, declined to rule out an offer for People Inc., the media and holding company controlled by veteran dealmaker Barry Diller. The remarks confirm a Wall Street Journal report that MGM has been exploring the idea, and they mark a striking reversal of roles between the two companies after People Inc. walked away from its own attempt to absorb MGM.

People Inc., formerly known as IAC, already owns roughly 27% of MGM, making it the casino giant’s largest shareholder. Back in June, the company had floated a $48.30-per-share offer to buy the rest of MGM outright. That proposal collapsed last week, with Diller saying the “mix” of factors needed to get the deal done simply hadn’t come together — though he insisted People Inc. still wants some kind of strategic transaction with MGM down the road.

Now the question is whether MGM turns the tables and goes after People Inc. instead. Hornbuckle wouldn’t confirm or deny active talks, but he made clear the company is keeping every option on the table. “We’re trying to unlock the value of a company that we think is grossly undervalued,” he said, pointing to MGM’s sprawling portfolio — BetMGM, its Macao casino operations, a resort under construction in Japan, and its marquee Las Vegas properties — as assets the market hasn’t fully priced in.

MGM shares were trading around $32 during the G2E conference, well below the $48.30 per share People Inc. had offered just months earlier — a gap that underscores Hornbuckle’s argument that the stock is trading at a discount to what the underlying business is worth.

Despite the awkward reversal, Hornbuckle had nothing but praise for Diller, calling him “an amazing shareholder” who remains bullish on the future of Las Vegas. He argued that the city’s appeal is uniquely insulated from the technological disruption reshaping other parts of Diller’s media empire. “It is the one place, particularly in his world, where AI won’t disintermediate it,” Hornbuckle said. “People are coming here to enjoy things physically, and that’s not going to change.”

The MGM-People Inc. saga is playing out against a broader wave of consolidation sweeping the gaming industry. Caesars Entertainment shareholders last week approved a $17.6 billion take-private sale — including assumed debt — to Fertitta Entertainment, the hospitality empire controlled by billionaire Tilman Fertitta. The deal would fold Caesars’ casino and digital betting operations together with Fertitta’s Golden Nugget casinos, his Landry’s restaurant chain, and other hospitality holdings.

Caesars CEO Tom Reeg framed the move to private ownership as a chance to escape the short-term pressures of public markets. “We’re forced as public companies to think in 90-day increments far more than is healthy for any business,” Reeg said. “That’s not how you run a business.” He said pairing Caesars with a hospitality network of more than 400 locations nationwide opens the door to a much broader customer ecosystem spanning casinos, restaurants and entertainment.

That deal isn’t finalized yet. It’s currently under an extended antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission, which has issued a second request for information — a step Reeg described as routine for a transaction of this scale. He said regulators are scrutinizing a handful of overlapping markets that aren’t especially material to the combined company’s overall business. “You shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a property or two that ultimately gets divested,” he said, “but I wouldn’t expect them to be needle movers from a news perspective.”

Taken together, the MGM-Diller maneuvering and the Caesars-Fertitta deal reflect a casino industry in the midst of a dealmaking spree, as operators reassess their portfolios amid competition from sports betting, prediction markets and international expansion into places like Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Whether MGM ultimately moves on People Inc., or the two companies find some other arrangement, executives at G2E made one thing clear: after a summer of failed takeover talk, the appetite for consolidation in Las Vegas hasn’t gone anywhere — it’s simply changed direction.