On the 9th of December, 2019, an announcement was made that MGM China has appointed Simon Meng. He was appointed as independent non-executive director for the company. Also, he was named as a member of the nomination and corporate governance committee, the audit committee, and lastly the remuneration committee for MGM China.
Simon Meng joins MGM China with a lot of experience, and he comes with an impeccable record. His reputation precedes him as he is regarded as one of the best leaders in the country when it comes to cross border transactions.
He is quite vast in terms of joint ventures and direct investments, cross border M & A and project developments that take place within China.
According to reports obtained from Calvin Ayre, Meng is a BA degree holder in Law. He obtained his degree from Beijing University and he has two Masters Degrees from both business and public law.
In addition, he has a Ph.D. in Law, which he obtained from Bordeaux University situated in France. He also has an LLM degree from New York University School of Law.
At this time, Meng works as a corporate M&A partner at Linklaters located in Shanghai, China. There, he specialized in joint ventures and direct investments, and cross border M & A in the country. Meng also has a lot of experience in all things project development. He’s vast in urban transportation, real estate, and energy. He has served in advisory capacity for several big companies all over the world.
Meng is not the only person with an intimidating CV on the board, other members of the committee also include John McManus, Kenneth Feng, and James Freeman. They all serve as non-executive directors.
The non-executive directors of the company are Russell Banham, Simon Meng, and Patricia Lam. On the other hand, the board of MGM China consists of 5 directors namely Pansy Ho, Chen Yau Wong, Grant Bowie, James Murren, and Bill Hornbuckle.
Mengs arrival at MGM China came at the perfect time. In July this year, JP Morgan Securities rated the facility highly. They stated that the abysmal performance of MGM Cotai was rendered irrelevant all because of how successful MGM China is.
A month after, MGM China Holdings disclosed they would distribute dividends worth $46 million to its shareholders. When it is divided, it comes down to $0.012 for each share. According to news reports, net income experienced an increase of 45.1 percent in 2018.
This is terrific news for the parent company, MGM international because they own 56 percent of MGM China.
What impact Meng will bring to MGM China is to be seen, as little was reported about his appointment and no official statement was given as to what his role would mean to the organization. However, his expertise and reputation likely mean that good things will continue at MGM.
