Company raises $400 mil. in stock offering

Mirage Resorts Inc. of Las Vegas raised about $400 million Thursday by selling about 16 million shares of stock in a spot secondary offering, Bear Stearns & Co.'s Jason Ader said today.

"The funds will be used to provide equity for the Mirage development plans in both Atlantic City and Las Vegas," Ader said.

"In the short term, Mirage will use a portion of the funds to retire short-term debt," he said.

Mirage executives couldn't be reached for comment today about the spot sale or the planned sale of another $70 million of stock disclosed in a statement filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Ader said Mirage executives told him the company plans to open its next Las Vegas resort in 2003. Mirage has assembled more than 50 acres south of its Bellagio resort on the Strip in anticipation of building a new hotel-casino there.

Mirage also plans to open its Le Jardin hotel-casino in Atlantic City in 2002, Ader said.

Mirage is expected to report first-quarter per-share earnings of about 27 to 28 cents next week, up a penny or two from the year-ago period.

"Trends in Las Vegas remain strong," Ader said. "Results in Mississippi are off to a slow start but are gaining momentum.

"The sale of stock is good for the company's balance sheet and helps them to avoid a debt rating downgrade as they pursue their next phase of growth through development," the analyst said.

"It does, however, send a clear message to the market that the management believes $25 is a good price at which to be a seller."

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