Mandalay Resort Group (formerly Circus Circus Enterprises ) was an American hotel and 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".
23-540: The company 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 company incorporated as Circus Circus Enterprises (CCE) in 1974 to purchase Circus Circus from Sarno at a time when the casino was experiencing financial difficulties. The original majority owners of CCE were William Pennington ,
46-434: A Del Webb executive, and they purchased it in 1983. Sarno planned to develop Grandissimo, a hotel and casino with 6,000 rooms. However, the project was shelved when Sarno died. Sarno married Joyce Sarno Keys but they later divorced. They had four children: Jay Sarno Jr, September Sarno, Heidi Sarno Straus and Freddie Sarno. Sarno died of a heart attack on July 21, 1984 at the age of 62, at Caesars Palace. Sarno
69-622: A San Francisco-themed resort on the property. Brugnara planned to give Silver City a multimillion-dollar renovation, which would include building around the Walgreens store, with plans to have a fully operational hotel-casino by 2002. In March 2001, Brugnara's request for a gaming license was rejected. Brugnara had stated his intention to sue the Nevada Gaming Control Board if rejected, although he later dropped such plans. By July 2001, Brugnara had begun reapplying for
92-702: A degree in business. While in college, he met Stanley Mallin, who would become his lifelong friend and business partner. During World War II , he served in the United States Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations alongside Mallin. With Stanley Mallin, Sarno became a tile contractor in Miami , Florida. They subsequently built subsidized housing in Atlanta , Georgia. In 1958, after they had met Jimmy Hoffa and Allen Dorfman , they built
115-553: A former oil lease speculator and William Bennett , a former furniture salesman and the manager of The Mint Las Vegas casino. Circus Circus Enterprises purchased the Silver City Casino and Slots-A-Fun Casino in 1979 for $ 30 million, then refurbished both the interior and exterior. The company went public in 1983 and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's properties found success in
138-458: A gaming license in August 1999, but was still undergoing a pre-licensing investigation, which prevented him from keeping the casino open. Brugnara planned to fully remodel the casino and to demolish the adjacent Las Vegas Shopping Plaza, which was to become the site of two restaurants. Walgreens opened a store on the property on November 30, 1999. By January 2000, Brugnara was planning to build
161-436: A gaming license to operate the casino. In May 2002, it was announced that Brugnara had sold the casino and its 3.5-acre property to Angelo, Gordon & Co. , which planned to demolish it and build a Ross clothing store. Brugnara retained six acres of vacant property located behind the casino. In 2003, Brugnara was planning to build a 24-story, 304-room hotel and casino resort on the property. The resort, to be named "Tycoon",
184-470: A hotel-casino on the property. In October 1999, San Francisco businessman Luke Brugnara purchased Silver City from United Casino Holdings LLC, at a cost of $ 31.5 million. At that time, the 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m ) casino was operated by Mandalay Resort Group , which leased the space. The casino had approximately 150 employees, and was planned to close at the end of the month. The closure occurred on October 31, 1999. Brugnara had applied for
207-411: 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 held a majority stake in that Reno resort. Circus Circus Tunica opened on August 29, 1994. It was rebranded in 1997 as Gold Strike Tunica and given a more upscale theme. The total cost for
230-400: 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. Michigan law, however, forbade one company from owning multiple casinos, requiring
253-767: The Atlanta Cabana Motel in Atlanta , Georgia, as well as several motels in California and Texas. He was the founder of the Caesars Palace and Circus Circus hotels in Las Vegas . Sarno was born in 1922 in St. Joseph, Missouri . His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland . His father was a cabinet maker , his mother a homemaker . Sarno graduated from the University of Missouri , with
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#1732787735264276-840: The Atlanta Cabana Motel with a loan from the Central States Pension Fund. They went on to build Cabanas in Palo Alto, California and another motel in Dallas . Sarno developed the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. It was inaugurated on August 5, 1966. Sarno later built Circus Circus . The attraction featured a circus tent with daily acts and Sarno would dress up as a ringmaster and attend to families and children personally. Sarno subsequently leased it to Bill Pennington and Bill Bennett,
299-592: 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. In 1983, Circus Circus purchased the Edgewater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada for $ 17 million. The next year,
322-544: 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
345-640: The Mandalay Resort Group announced a second 1,122-room hotel tower at their Mandalay Bay property, 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'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
368-625: The company bought the neighboring Colorado Belle casino from Advanced Patent Technology and John Fulton for $ 4 million. The company planned to move the unprofitable Colorado Belle to make room for an expansion of the Edgewater. 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
391-481: The place of Riata Casino, which had opened in 1973 and closed in less than a year. Circus Circus Enterprises purchased the casino in 1981 for $ 30 million, then refurbished both the interior and exterior. In 1991 it became the strip's first casino to ban cigarette smoking. In early 1997, investment group United Leisure bought the 8.5-acre property where the Silver City Casino sat, with plans to develop
414-482: 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
437-569: The remodel was estimated to be $ 125 million. 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 based in Jean, Nevada , in a deal valued at more than $ 600 million. At the time of the acquisition, Gold Strike Resorts owned the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall , Nevada Landing Hotel and Casino , Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino and 50% of
460-613: The sale of either the MGM Grand Detroit or Mandalay's 54% stake in the MotorCity Casino . After some vacillation about which property to sell, Mandalay accepted a $ 525-million offer for its interest in MotorCity from Marian Ilitch , the casino's second largest shareholder. Jay Sarno Jay Sarno (July 2, 1922 – July 21, 1984) was an American developer, hotelier, and casino owner. He developed and owned
483-505: The under-construction Monte Carlo Resort and Casino . The acquisition did not include the original Gold Strike near Boulder City , because the owners wanted to pass it on to their children. In 1995, Circus Circus purchased the Hacienda from Archon Corporation . By this time, the Hacienda 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,
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#1732787735264506-649: Was posthumously elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1989. He received, also posthumously, the inaugural Sarno Award for Casino Design from the Global Gaming Expo in 2003. Silver City Casino Circus Circus Enterprises (1981–1999) The Silver City Casino was a casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada . Major Riddle opened the Silver City Casino in 1974 in
529-429: 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,
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