Melco’s Ho wants to explore casino in Barcelona, Spain

2014-04-30

Reading time 1:30 min

(Spain).- Last week, Lawrence Ho announced to the HK Stock Exchange that his main holding company, Melco International Development, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Veremonte Espana S.L. of Spain. This understanding includes holding talks for the management of at least one casino, which is to be developed as part of the BCN Dream resort being developed by Veremonte near Barcelona, Forbes magazine reported.

According to the publication, besides casinos, BCN Dream will include more than 10,000 hotel rooms, an exhibition and meeting center and up to 5,000 residential units. BCN Dream, in turn, is to be part of a BCN World project that aims to create a world-class entertainment destination in Europe.

Recently, another Hong Kong-listed company led by Lawrence, Summit Ascent, announced that it would increase its ownership of a casino project in eastern Russia. The casino is north of China’s Heilongjiang Province, and the investment is expected to give Summit Ascent an early-mover advantage in an eastern Russian market, now full of promise since Russia eased rules on casino investments in 2009.

Melco Crown, co-chaired by Lawrence Ho and James Packer, is also building a casino in the Philippines and has a new project in Macau, Studio City, all the while looking to invest in Japan.

Melco International’s 38%-owned Entertainment Gaming Asia, which trades on the Nasdaq, has a slot-machine business in the Philippines. In Phnom Penh, Entertainment Gaming Asia has a joint venture with a unit of Malaysian billionaire Chen Lip Keong’sNagaCorp.

In China, Melco International’s 19% owned Mountain China Resorts operates the largest destination ski resort in the country: the Yabuli Resort. MelcoLot, a 51% owned Melco International subsidiary, is in the lottery management business in the mainland. The shares of Entertainment Gaming, Canada-traded Mountain China Resorts, and Hong Kong-listed MelcoLot, unlike Melco International, have declined over the past year.

Melco International’s stock has risen by half in Hong Kong in the past 12 months, and Melco Crown has increased by almost the same amount in Hong Kong and on the Nasdaq.

Recently, Sheldon Adelson abandoned plans to develop a mega-resort in Madrid, Spain. Named EuroVegas, the project succumbed because of EU laws, namely anti-smoking legislation, although both regional and central authorities supported Adelson’s gigantic venture as a way to fight unemployment rates of over 20 percent.