Report: Dubai seeking new MGM deal

LAS VEGAS, April 11 (UPI) -- Dubai World is pushing a plan to rescue a financially troubled Las Vegas project that would pledge billions of dollars needed to complete it, sources say.

The conglomerate, owned by the government of Dubai, is proposing to team with its U.S. partner, MGM Mirage and their lenders, on the $8.6 billion CityCenter resort and casino project on the Strip to commit a combined $3 billion to avoid a possible construction shutdown, sources told Saturday's Wall Street Journal.

The rescue effort comes as MGM Mirage's financial situation has worsened and Dubai World last month skipped contributing its half of a $200 million construction payment in a sign of strained relations between the partners. The Journal said Dubai World fears it could lose its $4.3 billion investment in CityCenter if MGM Mirage, controlled by investor Kirk Kerkorian, is forced into bankruptcy.

The newspaper's sources said that such a commitment would require that banks waive an agreement to release a $1.8 billion loan only after MGM Mirage and Dubai World had put in more cash of their own, and would also keep the project intact if MGM Mirage goes bankrupt, the Journal said.