Melco banking on Asian players for $1-B casino

MANILA, Philippines - Macau casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is banking on its vast gaming network catering to Asians for its $1-billion gaming complex along Manila Bay.

Operations of a casino complex in Manila, its first jurisdiction outside of Macau, will be a key contributor to Melco, its top executive said.

“We are the only casino operator that has an exposure in Macau. That is a key differentiation factor for us,” Melco co-chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho said in a briefing.

Ho said Melco has a large database of Asian players, particularly Hong Kong and Chinese visitors, who could be diverted to the Philippines.

The local unit of Melco formally inked Friday its partnership with the upscale leisure developer of mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SMIC).

“I think the Philippine market will grow significantly,” Ho said, adding that the Philippine gaming market might hit $3 billion in terms of gaming revenues by 2015 and up to $6 billion in five to six years, matching the market in Singapore and Las Vegas.

SM’s gaming arm Belle Corp. said its subsidiary PremiumLeisure and Amusement Inc. closed the agreement with three units of Melco.

Melco, which will operate the casino complex, will invest an initial $650 million for the project’s first phase.

Belle Grande is located within the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (Pagcor) 120-hectare Entertainment City that is being groomed to compete with Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau as gaming hub.

“We think the Philippine venture is going to be a key contributor in our business,” Ho said.

Ho said the four casino complex in the Entertainment City would result in a clustering effect that is healthy for the gaming industry.

The project is the first gaming venture of the Sy family whose flagship company SMIC is involved in five core businesses - retail merchandising, mall operations, property, banking and hotel and leisure.

For Melco, it will be its first outside Macau where it operates the City of Dreams and Altira Macau casinos. The company is developing its third casino, Studio City, which is slated for opening in 2015.

Ho said the integrated casino resort provides Melco with an “opportunity to showcase our vast experience in designing and operating world-class gaming and entertainment resorts in Asia.”

The integrated resort complex would include mass market and VIP gaming facilities, unique food and beverage offerings, numerous entertainment attractions together with high-end boutique and VIP and five-star luxury hotel rooms, suites and villas.

Melco Crown earlier said it wanted to take advantage of the expected growth in the leisure and tourism industries catering to the affluent and growing Asian middle class.

Pagcor forecasts that gambling revenues in the Philippines will grow from $1.3 billion in 2011 to at least $10 billion by 2017, coming from the operations of the four gaming giants in Entertainment City.

The Solaire casino complex, also located in the Entertainment City, of Razon-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp. started commercials operations yesterday.