Asian casino developer Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd said its unit Melco Crown (Macau) Ltd has agreed with lenders an extension on the term of its senior loan facilities with a syndicate of banks.
Under the new deal – the seventh amendment to its senior facilities – Melco Crown (Macau) will be entitled to a US$1.75-billion facility. It will consist of a US$500 million term loan over six years, and a US$1-billion revolving credit facility, with the option of increasing the latter by another US$250 million over five years, subject to conditions.
The parent said in a filing in Hong Kong after trading hours on Friday that it expects the term loan to be fully drawn down by June 29, adding that the amended facility can be used to “refinance the outstanding balance of the original facilities and general corporate purposes of the company and its subsidiaries.”
The parent is 60 percent owner of the US$3.2-billion Studio City resort currently under construction on Cotai in Macau. It is due to open later this year.
The original senior credit facilities were secured against the parent’s City of Dreams and Altira casino resort assets in Macau, as will the amended facility.
A condition of the amended facility is that Melco International Development Ltd led by Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, and Crown Resorts Ltd, led by James Packer, control directly or indirectly at least 30 percent of the issued share capital of Melco Crown Entertainment.
According to Friday’s filing, each partner currently has 34.29 percent of Melco Crown.
