Las Vegas business briefs

KERKORIAN INCREASES STAKE IN MGM STUDIO -- Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. agreed to buy Seven Network Ltd.'s stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. for $389 million, raising the billionaire's ownership in the struggling studio to 89.6 percent. MGM shares rose 2 3/16, or 14 percent, to 17 1/2 in early trading. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company's stock has declined about 12 percent since the beginning of this year. Tracinda, Kerkorian's investment company, said it will purchase all of Seven Network's shares in MGM at $24 apiece. Seven Network, one of Australia's three commercial television stations, owned 24.6 percent of the movie and television studio as of April 3, according to MGM's proxy statement. The move comes as MGM is considering doubling a planned rights offering to $500 million to raise needed funds for the money-losing studio. Kerkorian also controls the Las Vegas-based MGM Grand hotel-casino company.

B OF A CHIEF TO STAY AFTER MERGER -- BankAmerica Corp. Chief Executive David Coulter told employees he will stay after the bank merges with NationsBank Corp., moving to quell speculation he will leave and collect a severance package worth more than $30 million, several BankAmerica employees said. Coulter said he isn't going anywhere and is with the bank for the long haul, employees said.

HOLLYWOOD PARK WINS OK TO BUY CASINO MAGIC -- Hollywood Park Inc. can buy out Casino Magic but must take any consequences that might come from an ongoing investigation into Casino Magic's riverboat casino, a Louisiana regulatory board decided Tuesday. Hollywood Park already has received permission from Mississippi regulators for a merger that, in effect, is a buy out of Casino Magic's facilities in Bay St. Louis, Biloxi and in Bossier City, La. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board began its investigation early this year when officials of Casino Magic acknowledged in federal documents that they paid attorney Stephen Edwards, son of former Gov. Edwin Edwards, $45,000 a month for doing relatively little work.

CUSTOMERS BILKED OUT OF LAS VEGAS TRIPS -- The state of Washington plans to seize the bank accounts of a company run by a Yakima man accused of bilking hundreds of people who paid for gambling trips to Las Vegas that never materialized. David R. Ward and his girlfriend, Sandi L. Jensen, did not appear at a hearing in Yakima County Superior Court to argue against a lawsuit filed by the state last month. The couple ran Nevada Winners, a company that claimed to provide customers with low-cost airfare and accommodations in Las Vegas. Instead, the state Attorney General's Office alleges Ward and Jensen deceived customers, failed to make refunds and made unauthorized credit-card charges. The state received some 200 complaints against Nevada Winners.

To contact Sun Business Editor Steve Green, call 259-4083 or e-mail [email protected]

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