By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Casinos are finally getting some relief. Shares of the gambling companies rose after China said it will start granting visas to Macau again and IAC announced a huge position in MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM).
MGM Resorts rose 12%, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) rose 7.4%, Melco Crown 7.6% and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) 8.7%.
Macau said Monday that tourist visas will be reinstated for the neighboring city of Zhuhai starting Aug. 12, Reuters reported. Travel to the area has been decimated this year as a result of the coronavirus spread around the world.
Billionaire Barry Diller's IAC has taken a $1 billion, 12% position in MGM and plans to be a long-term strategic partner, IAC Chief Executive Officer Joey Levin said in a statement.
"MGM presented a 'once in a decade' opportunity for IAC to own a meaningful piece of a preeminent brand in a large category with great potential to move online," Diller and Levin said in a letter to shareholders. "We believe we can generate compelling returns for our shareholders and hope our expertise will be additive to MGM's opportunities, but even if we never advance our involvement from here, the value was too compelling to ignore."
"We think MGM could be one of the largest direct marketers on the internet as online gaming grows, and online direct marketing is an area we know well," the executives said.
Shares of MGM Resorts have tripled since March, but are down 34% since the start of 2020.