Miriam Adelson Sells Off Part of LVS For Sports Franchise Team

Las Vegas Sands Corp has announced that Miriam Adelson, the largest stockholder in the company, will be selling $2 billion worth of her shares. The proceeds from this sale will be used towards the acquisition of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise.

As part of the share sale, a 4.6 percent interest in Las Vegas Sands, currently held by the Miriam Adelson Trust, will be made available on the market. Furthermore, Ms. Adelson’s direct ownership stake, which currently stands at 51.8 percent, will be diluted by 0.5 percentage points to 51.3 percent upon completion of the exercise.

In a recent filing, Las Vegas Sands revealed that approximately 46.3 million shares will be offered at a price of $44.00 per share to the public. It is worth noting that the group’s stock was trading at $47.66 on the New York Stock Exchange at the time of the announcement. The company clarified that it will not receive any proceeds from the sale, as all funds will be received by the selling stockholders.

Reports from various U.S. media outlets suggest that the “Adelson family” is considering the purchase of a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks, the National Basketball Association (NBA) team. The acquisition, if successful, would further solidify the Adelson family’s presence in the sports industry while aligning with their passion for entertainment and entrepreneurship.

Currently, Miriam Adelson and the trust in her name collectively hold a 57.0 percent interest in Las Vegas Sands, which serves as the parent company of Sands China Ltd in Macau and also operates the Marina Bay Sands casino resort in Singapore. Following the completion of the offering, Las Vegas Sands intends to repurchase up to $250 million of the common-stock shares brought to market at the same per-share price paid by the underwriters to the selling stockholders. This repurchase program was initially announced during the company’s third-quarter earnings call in mid-October.

Goldman Sachs & Co LLC and BofA Securities have been appointed as joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering is scheduled to close on December 1, with the selling stockholders and certain related trusts expected to enter into lockup agreements for a period of 365 days from the pricing date of the offering. These agreements will restrict them from engaging in certain transactions with respect to shares of the company’s common stock.

In April 2020, Las Vegas Sands suspended its quarterly dividend program due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the program was reinstated earlier this year, and the group paid a dividend of $0.20 per share on August 16 and November 15, respectively. This demonstrates the company’s resilience and commitment to its shareholders during challenging times.