Realty Income to invest about $950 million in Bellagio Las Vegas

(Reuters) -Realty Income signed an agreement with Blackstone’s real estate investing firm to invest about $950 million in the Bellagio Las Vegas resort, valuing the assets at $5.1 billion, the companies said on Friday.

Realty Income would acquire common and preferred equity interests from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) in a new joint venture that owns a 95% interest in the real estate assets of Bellagio.

Blackstone had bought Bellagio from MGM Resorts for $4.25 billion in 2019.

According to the companies, Realty Income would invest about $300 million of common equity in the joint venture, subject to certain adjustments, to acquire a near-22% indirect interest in the property.

Realty Income would also invest $650 million to buy a yield-bearing preferred equity interest in the joint venture.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Friday.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Shilpi Majumdar)