Diller's People Inc. Drops $18B MGM Bid — Then M&A Talk Flips
Barry Diller's media holding company, People Inc., withdrew its roughly $18 billion offer to acquire the rest of MGM Resorts International on September 24, ending a bid that had been on the table since June 1 at $48.30 per share. MGM shares fell roughly 10% the following day on the news, according to multiple outlets including CNBC and Forbes. Within 24 hours, the Wall Street Journal reported that speculation had flipped in the opposite direction — with sources suggesting MGM itself could pursue an acquisition of People Inc. instead.
Why the original bid fell apart
People Inc.'s initial offer valued MGM at roughly $18 billion, and Diller has said he remains open to a "strategic" deal with the casino operator going forward. Reporting on the withdrawal points to financing complexity rather than a change of heart about MGM's underlying business as the reason the offer was pulled. Seaport Research Partners analyst Vitaly Umansky told clients it's plausible Diller's company returns with a renewed offer down the line, and that People Inc. is likely to keep accumulating MGM shares in the meantime — it currently holds around 27% of MGM's stock, a position built up well before the formal bid.
The reversal: could MGM buy Diller's company instead?
The Journal's report reframes the relationship entirely: rather than Diller acquiring MGM, MGM could acquire People Inc. — the company that publishes titles including Food & Wine, Investopedia, Travel + Leisure, and The Daily Beast, and holds stakes in businesses like Turo. The financial logic isn't about media assets; it's about MGM retiring a large chunk of its own stock. Because People Inc. already owns roughly 27% of MGM, worth an estimated $2.25 billion, buying out People would let MGM absorb that stake, shrink its own share count, and potentially boost earnings per share, while opening the door to selling off People's non-core publishing assets separately. Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon has separately noted that MGM trades at what he called a "striking discount" to comparable casino operators once certain assets are excluded from the comparison.
Why it matters for the casino industry
Nothing here is settled — both directions remain speculative, and neither company has confirmed active negotiations toward either outcome. But the back-and-forth over a single week says something concrete about how MGM is currently being valued on Wall Street: two different sets of analysts and dealmakers looked at the same 27% cross-holding and concluded there's an M&A angle worth pursuing from either side of the table. For an industry that's already seeing consolidation pressure elsewhere this year, a resolution in either direction — a renewed Diller bid or an MGM counter-move — would rank among the largest ownership shifts at a major US casino operator in years.