called circus circus enterprises 1974 1999 former type public industry entertainment & hospitality fate merged with mgm mirage successor mgm mirage founded winchester nevada u.s. 1974 founders william bennett william pennington defunct april 26 2005 ; 11 years ago april 26 2005 headquarters paradise nevada u.s. owner mgm resorts international website www.mandalayresortgroup.com mandalay resort group formerly known as circus circus enterprises was a hotel casino operator based in paradise nevada . its major properties included mandalay bay luxor excalibur and circus circus as well as half of the monte carlo . in terms of market capitalization it was one of the largest casino operators in the world . its stock traded on the new york stock exchange with the ticker symbol cir and mbg . contents 1 history 2 hotels and casinos when acquired by mgm mirage 3 former properties 4 see also 5 references history edit former circus circus enterprises logo . the group was originally known as circus circus enterprises and originated with jay sarno s 1968 opening of the circus circus as well as a circus circus in reno which opened in 1978 . the group incorporated as circus circus enterprises cce in 1974 to purchase circus circus from sarno at a time when the casino was experiencing financial difficulties . circus circus enterprises purchased the silver city casino and slots a fun casino 1 in 1979 for 30 million then refurbished both the interior and exterior . 2 the company went public in 1983 and traded on the new york stock exchange . the original majority owners of cce were william pennington a former oil lease speculator and william bennett a former furniture salesman and the manager of the mint las vegas casino . the group s properties found success in the 1980s offering a las vegas experience to families subsequently experimented upon by its competitors . its converted circus circus originally developed for the upmarket and later excalibur properties offered gaming opportunities for adults and separate non gambling games and theme park style experiences for underage visitors under the same roof . the colorado belle described as unprofitable 3 was sold in 1984 to circus circus enterprises for 4 million by advanced patent technology and john fulton a southern california restaurateur 4 5 and made plans to move it to make room for an expansion of its neighboring edgewater hotel & casino . 6 the group subsequently developed the excalibur in 1990 the luxor in 1993 and the mandalay bay in 1999 for which the group was renamed . the group entered into a joint venture in 1993 with don carano of eldorado in reno to develop and build reno s largest and tallest megaresort titled silver legacy . the 350 million hotel opened on july 28 1995 . circus circus enterprises then turned mandalay resort group held majority stake in that reno resort . circus circus tunica opened on august 29 1994 . the casino was rebranded in 1997 as the gold strike casino resort and given a more upscale theme . the total cost for the remodel was estimated to be 125 million . 7 on march 20 1995 circus circus enterprises announced that it had agreed to acquire gold strike resorts a closely held budget casino owner and operator in a deal valued at more than 600 million . 8 at the time of the acquisition jean nevada based gold strike resorts owned the gold strike hotel and gambling hall 50 % of monte carlo resort and casino nevada landing hotel and casino and railroad pass hotel and casino . 9 the acquisition did not include the original gold strike near boulder city because the owners wanted to pass it on to their children . 10 in 1995 the hacienda was purchased by circus circus enterprises from lowden s archon corporation . 11 by this time it was dwarfed by the many new megaresorts that were being built in particular the luxor which had just been recently completed . on december 10 1996 the hacienda was closed to the public after 40 years and imploded later that month . this implosion was broadcast on the fox network as a part of their new year s eve 1996 telecast . despite the implosion parts of the old resort still stood due to the building not falling into its footprint but toppling into its parking lot . the next day a wrecking crew was brought in to bring down the remaining parts . in march 1999 it was replaced by the mandalay bay . the group was also a partner with mirage resorts on the 1996 opening of the nearby monte carlo resort and casino . circus circus enterprises closed the silver city casino on october 31 1999 . following the completion of mandalay bay in 1999 the name of the company was changed to mandalay resorts group . on december 14 1999 motorcity casino hotel opened . on may 23 2002 the mandalay resort group announced a second 1 122 room hotel tower with a cost of at least 200 million . construction began on the tower in september 2002 . the name of the tower thehotel at mandalay bay was chosen in september 2003 . the tower opened on december 17 2003 . on june 4 2004 one of mandalay resort group s largest competitors mgm mirage announced a bid to acquire it for 68 per share plus assumption of debt . the stock closed at 60.27 per share on june 4 . although the proposal was announced after the close of trading on june 4 the volume of trading in mandalay resort group stock on that day was quadruple the normal with the stock closing at 60.27 per share . the ensuing negotiations between the two companies included at one point an announcement that the mandalay board was rejecting the offer because of antitrust concerns . on june 15 2004 however both companies boards approved a revised offer of 71 per share . the agreement called for mgm mirage to pay 4.8 billion and to assume 2.5 billion in debt . the transaction was completed on april 26 2005 for 7.9 billion . mgm executives were confident that antitrust regulators would not require the sale of any of the two companies properties . 12 michigan law however forbade one company from owning multiple casinos requiring the sale of either the mgm grand detroit or mandalay s 54 % stake in the motorcity casino . 13 after some vacillation about which property to sell 14 mandalay accepted a 525 million offer for its interest in motorcity from marian ilitch the casino s second largest shareholder . 15 hotels and casinos when acquired by mgm mirage edit circus circus winchester nevada circus circus reno nevada colorado belle laughlin nevada edgewater laughlin nevada excalibur paradise nevada gold strike jean nevada gold strike tunica mississippi grand victoria elgin illinois luxor paradise nevada mandalay bay paradise nevada thehotel at mandalay bay paradise nevada monte carlo paradise nevada 50 % owner in partnership with mgm mirage nevada landing jean nevada railroad pass henderson nevada silver legacy reno nevada 50 % owner in partnership with eldorado resorts slots a fun winchester nevada former properties edit hacienda motorcity detroit michigan silver city casino winchester nevada see also edit list of defunct gambling companies references edit david g. schwartz 2010 . the burger king revolution how las vegas bounced back 1983 1989 . gaming law review and economics . 14 4 270 . retrieved 2016 03 18 . question of the day . las vegas advisor . 2009 12 12 . retrieved 2015 01 19 . riggs rod august 25 1985 . making the games vegas plays . san diego union . via newsbank . retrieved 2012 06 26 . subscription required advanced patent starts hotel casino construction . wall street journal . via proquest . october 8 1979 . retrieved june 25 2012 . subscription required circus circus buys casino from gaming & technology . wall street journal . via proquest . february 16 1984 . retrieved 2012 06 25 . subscription required circus circus buys casino from gaming & technology . wall street journal . via proquest . february 16 1984 . retrieved june 25 2012 . subscription required circus circus enterprises inc. a gaming company . uploaded 2010 02 04 . archived from the original on june 10 2010 . retrieved 2010 07 05 . check date values in date help jones kathryn 1995 03 21 . company news ; circus circus agrees to buy gold strike casino owner . new york times . retrieved 2007 07 31 . circus circus to acquire gold strike . corporate growth report weekly . 1995 06 05 . retrieved 2007 07 31 . dead link vogel ed may 23 1995 . merger plan gets approval . las vegas review journal . via factiva subscription required stutz howard 2007 09 04 . investors group sues archon over stock redemption price . las vegas review journal . stephens media group . p. 1d . retrieved 2007 09 04 . liz benston june 15 2004 . mgm mirage cites juggernaut . las vegas sun . retrieved 2013 04 21 . joel j. smith june 17 2004 . motorcity casino to be sold . detroit news . via factiva subscription required howard stutz december 4 2004 . mgm mirage changes tactics in detroit . las vegas review journal . via factiva subscription required r.j. king ; joel j. smith march 16 2005 . ilitch sews up deal for motorcity casino . detroit news . via factiva subscription required v t e mandalay resort group illinois grand victoria elgin joint venture with hyatt michigan motorcity detroit mississippi gold strike tunica nevada henderson railroad pass jean gold strike nevada landing las vegas circus circus adventuredome slots a fun excalibur luxor mandalay bay mandalay bay convention center mandalay bay events center thehotel monte carlo joint venture with mgm mirage laughlin colorado belle edgewater reno circus circus silver legacy joint venture with eldorado resorts retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mandalay resort group & oldid 737574235 categories 1974 establishments in nevada2005 disestablishments in nevadacompanies established in 1974companies disestablished in 2005defunct companies based in nevadadefunct gambling companiescompanies based in paradise nevadamandalay resort groupmgm resorts internationalhidden 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