MGM Resorts announces board members for real estate investment trust

An exterior view of the Mirage Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015.

MGM Resorts International today revealed the names of seven people who will sit on the board of its planned real estate investment trust.

The board of the trust, commonly known as a REIT, will be composed of five directors with ties to the company and two independent directors, according to a statement from MGM Resorts. The REIT will own 10 properties, including seven on the Strip, all of which will continue to be operated by MGM Resorts.

MGM Resorts said in October that it was creating the REIT — named MGM Growth Properties LLC — to strengthen its finances, improve value for shareholders and give the company more flexibility. The REIT will be a separate publicly traded company, but MGM Resorts is expected to own about 70 percent of it.

Company-affiliated REIT board members will include CEO Jim Murren, President Bill Hornbuckle, General Counsel John McManus and Chief Analytics Officer Elisa Gois. Tracinda Corp. executive Dan Taylor, an independent director of MGM Resorts, will also sit on the REIT board.

Thomas Roberts, one of the independent directors of MGM Growth Properties, is a strategic advisor and corporate governance consultant who was a partner at the law firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges for more than 20 years, according to a statement from MGM Resorts.

The other independent director, Michael Rietbrock, has had a “highly distinguished career” as an analyst and investor in real estate, gaming and lodging securities, according to MGM Resorts. Rietbrock was most recently head of global equity research and co-head of U.S. equities at Nomura Securities.

MGM Resorts announced the REIT’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer last month.

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