The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Katrina Hamlin

HONG KONG, June 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Media mogul Barry Diller’s People wants to buy the casino empire at an $18 bln valuation, betting live entertainment will thrive in the AI age. Turning around Las Vegas properties looks hard, and while Macau is growing fast, it leaves the group heavily exposed to Chinese demand.

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Barry Diller’s People on June 1 made a non-binding all-cash bid to buy the rest of MGM Resorts that it doesn’t already own.

The proposed deal at $48.3 per share would value the U.S. casino operator’s equity at $12 billion, a 10.6% premium to the close on May 29.

People, which owns a 26.1% stake in MGM, expects to hold just over 50.1% of the company’s stock, with other investors holding minority interests, the company said.

“We began investing in MGM nearly six years ago because we believed it represented a rare kind of business: one with real world assets that AI cannot easily replicate or disintermediate and exceptional digital growth opportunities,” Diller said in his company's offer statement.

MGM’s stock closed 16% higher at $50.69. The Hong Kong shares of MGM China rose 7% on June 2.