Private equity giant Blackstone Group Inc.'s Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. agreed to purchase the real estate assets of The Bellagio Las Vegas from MGM Resorts International for approximately $4.25 billion, excluding closing costs, in a 95/5 joint venture with MGM.

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust will lead the joint venture, which will lease back the property to a unit of MGM Resorts for initial annual rent of $245 million. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

MGM Resorts, which will receive a 5% equity interest in the joint venture and cash of approximately $4.2 billion, will continue to manage, operate and be responsible for all aspects of the property on a day-to-day basis.

The Bellagio luxury integrated resort is on 77 acres at the center of the Las Vegas strip and offers 3,933 hotel rooms, an approximately 155,000-square-foot gaming floor, 94,000 square feet of retail space and 200,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space, according to a filing.

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP was legal counsel to MGM Resorts, while PJT Advisors and J.P. Morgan served as financial advisers. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. were financial advisers to Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. Morgan Stanley & Co, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. were Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust's financing advisers, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP offered legal counsel.

Separately, MGM Resorts also agreed to sell Circus Circus Las Vegas to an affiliate of Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin for $825 million in a deal that is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The purchase price will consist of $662.5 million, paid in cash, and a $162.5 million note due 2024.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and CBRE are serving as financial advisers to MGM Resorts for the Circus Circus property deal.