One of the most prominent Asian owners, developers, and operators of fully integrated gambling-friendly resorts Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited was founded back in 2004. This company, based in Hong Kong, owns and operates venues not only in Asia but also in Europe and Australia. It was founded as a joint entity between Crown Limited and Melco International. As of May of 2017, the company also operates its Melco International subsidiary.
Today, the company is responsible for several luxurious fully integrated casino resorts including its City of Dreams which opened in 2009, Altira Macau which opened in 2009, City of Dreams Manilla which opened in 2015 and finally its iconic Studio City Macau that opened five years ago in 2015. Among several other projects and venues, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited is also in the process of constructing its Cyprus-based City of Dreams Mediterranean gambling-friendly resort which will be the biggest resort of this kind in Europe.
Iconic Studio City Macau
As mentioned at the beginning, one of the company’s most successful facilities is the Studio City Macau venue that opened to the public back on the 27th of October in 2015. Located in Cotai, Macau, Studio City Macau is Asia’s very first fully-integrated leisure resort which integrated both film and television production venues, hotels, as well as gaming and retail facilities.
The venue developed by USA-based Oaktree Capital Management LLC and Silver Point Capital LP and eSun Holdings Limited which is a Hong Kong-based company. Back in June of 2011, Melco Crown Entertainment of Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited took over a majority sixty percent share of the Studio City Macau’s property developer.
This meant that Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited gained control of the Studio City Macau project after investing US$1.7 billion. Recently, the company’s officials announced that they Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited is ready to invest around $500 million to increase its majority stake in Studio City Macau by investing in its current operational vehicle, Studio City International Holdings Limited.
The operating vehicle of the Studio City Macau venue Studio City International Holdings Limited was founded as a joint entity between New Cotai Holdings and the Hong Kong-listed company which was then tasked to run the luxurious Cotai-based resort. The resort features an impressive 106,000 square feet casino floor alongside many other iconic amenities including the very first figure-eight Ferris wheel in the world.
Full Studio City International Holdings Limited Acquisition
According to one report released by GGRAsia, the officials at Studio City International Holdings Limited just recently revealed that the company will offer its investors the opportunity to purchase an extra tranche of its shares of Class A with an individual price tag of $3.89. While Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited holds over fifty-four present of Studio City International Holdings Limited’s share capital, it is ready to purchase the maximum number of securities available which could cost around $500 million.
All in all, the Asian casino behemoth has been interested in acquiring the Studio City International Holdings Limited fully for a long time now and the upcoming share offer is the best chance to do so. Nonetheless, it is still unclear whether New Cotai Holdings that has over thirty-six percent stake in the company will participate in the share offering.
