The potential sale of the US$2.6bn Encore Boston Harbor by Wynn Resorts to MGM Resorts has been stopped by Wynn while the negotiations were still at an early stage.

Wynn

Wynn, due to open the 671-room hotel in Everett, Massachusetts, next month, expects eight million visitors annually for the casino, set to have 242 table games and 3,158 slots. MGM already has a Massachusetts casino in Springfield and would not have been permitted to have two casinos in the same stage under state law.

Said a representative of MGM: “We have noted the anxiety raised buy various stakeholders regarding a transaction and that troubles us. We only wish to have a positive impact on communities in which we operate.”

The state’s Gaming Commission fined Wynn $35m in April for not disclosing the sexual misconduct allegation against former CEO Steve Wynn, but the company was permitted to keep its casino licence.