Land and Buildings criticizes MGM board member

Tuesday 12th of May 2015

Land and Buildings, a shareholder of MGM Resorts, detailed reasons for shareholders to replace MGM board member Robert Baldwin by voting on the Gold proxy card.

The investment firm, which specializes in publicly traded real estate, said Robert Baldwin has been on the MGM Board of directors for 15 years and has been the chief design and construction officer since 2007.

L and B says Baldwin has been “overseeing what Land and Buildings views as numerous value-destroying capital allocation decisions.”

“The stock of MGM has also performed poorly during the period of Mr. Baldwin's tenure, with a total shareholder return of 21%, 600% below the median of its peers.”

The investment company added that Baldwin oversaw the execution of the “disastrous” CityCenter development, a project that was pioneered by Jim Murren, MGM’s chairman and CEO.

“The CityCenter project, after numerous mishaps, began opening in late 2009 at a cost of $9.2 billion – more than double the original cost estimate of $4 billion. It was the largest privately funded construction project in U.S. history.”

“The CityCenter debacle and other poor investment decisions that resulted in billions of additional impairment losses have prevented the Company from recovering to its pre-2008 financial crisis level, while similar gaming companies have recovered and thrived,” L and B said.