Less than a week after a multibillion-dollar deal for one of the country’s largest casino operators was announced, another gambling giant could soon be acquired.

Billionaire media mogul Barry Diller’s People Inc. is presenting an $18 billion offer to buy MGM Resorts International. The proposed transaction, which includes assuming MGM’s debt, would pay shareholders about $12.4 billion for their stock.

The MGM proposal comes just days after billionaire businessman Tilman Fertitta agreed to acquire Caesars Entertainment Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at $17.6 billion, including debt.

MGM is the largest casino operator on the Strip; Caesars is the second largest.

People Inc., formerly known as IAC and already MGM Resorts’ largest shareholder with a 26.1 percent stake, is offering $48.30 a share, according to a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The figure represents a 10 percent premium over the stock’s closing price on Friday.

If approved, the deal would take the casino operator private and give the new investor group control of the company. Diller and former IAC CEO Joey Levin both serve on MGM’s board of directors.

Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International operates nine casino resorts on the Strip and four non-gaming hotels. The gaming and hospitality company is Nevada’s largest employer.

In a statement issued Monday, MGM confirmed it had received People Inc.’s offer.

“The Company’s Board of Directors, in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, will carefully review and consider the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and all of its shareholders,” the company said. “MGM Resorts shareholders do not need to take any action at this time.”

In a statement filed with the SEC on Monday, Diller suggested that MGM’s assets are not being accurately reflected in its public market valuation.

“We continue to believe the market materially undervalues the power and durability of MGM’s assets,” he wrote. “We believe MGM’s management team is superb, and that there is a compelling opportunity to support MGM’s next phase of growth and help unlock its full value.”

Diller went further, writing that the company’s businesses are not “currently realizing their full potential in the public markets” and argued that it would be difficult to correct that while MGM remains a publicly traded company.

According to the proposal, People Inc. would own just over 50 percent of MGM following the transaction, while other investors would hold non-controlling minority stakes.

Financing the acquisition is expected through a combination of cash on hand at both People Inc. and MGM, along with additional debt and equity funding, according to Diller. He later added that the company has already been in “preliminary conversations” with potential equity investors and financing sources.

Diller said People Inc.’s (IAC at the time) 2020 initial investment in MGM was due to a combination of the company’s physical assets and digital growth opportunities, which he said remain underappreciated in the public markets.

He described MGM as “a rare kind of business” with real-world assets that artificial intelligence “cannot easily replicate or disintermediate,” along with digital businesses positioned for long-term growth.

“That conviction has only strengthened over time,” Diller wrote.

In addition to MGM’s Las Vegas operations, the company oversees six regional resorts across the United States and gaming in East Asia. The company is eyeing a 2030 opening of Japan’s first casino resort in Osaka.

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