Melco Intl plans Cyprus ground breaking on June 8

May 16, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World  

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Hong Kong-listed casino investor Melco International Development Ltd on Tuesday said there would be a ground breaking ceremony on June 8 for its new casino project in Cyprus. The casino resort will be developed in Limassol, a city on the southern coast of Cyprus.

“The project is going well, and it’s a busy month for us. We will have a media event on June 8 … about the ground breaking [ceremony] in Cyprus,” said Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, Melco International’s chairman and chief executive, during a press conference on Tuesday. The press conference – which took place in Macau – was about the opening of a new hotel tower dubbed Morpheus at casino resort City of Dreams Macau.

The Cyprus casino resort – dubbed City of Dreams Mediterranean (pictured in a rendering) – has a price tag of EUR550 million (US$651.8 million) and is to be developed by a consortium involving a local partner. The 75 percent-25 percent consortium is led by Melco International and includes Cyprus Phasouri (Zakaki) Ltd, a Cyprus-based conglomerate.

Mr Ho said additionally that the company would launch soon temporary gaming facilities in Cyprus.

“The temporary facilities are due to open in the summer. We have exciting times ahead. And in two and a half years, the permanent integrated resort will open,” said the Melco International CEO.

He added that the contribution from the casino resort to Cyprus’ economy could eventually amount to 4 percent of that nation’s gross domestic product.

Geoffrey Davis, chief financial officer of Melco International, told GGRAsia that the company would launch a temporary gaming facility in Cyprus next month.

“There’s a temporary facility [scheduled to open] in June,” Mr Davis said last week, on the sidelines of the Japan Gaming Congress in Tokyo.

“City of Dreams Mediterranean will showcase our ability to customise our integrated resort development in a way that makes the integrated resort appropriate for the individual market,” Mr Davis told GGRAsia.

The Melco International-led consortium received in June 2017 a 30-year casino licence from the Republic of Cyprus government. The initial single licence also allows the holder to build a satellite casino and three slot parlours in that country, namely in Nicosia, Larnaca, Famagusta and Paphos.

Earlier this month, Melco International announced the appointment of Craig Ballantyne as property president of City of Dreams Mediterranean. Mr Ballantyne will oversee the resort’s daily operations, according to a press release quoted by the Cyprus Mail news outlet.

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