By Cris Larano
MANILA--Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (MPEL) has raised its
planned investment in casino-resort City of Dreams Manila to $680
million, Chief Executive Lawrence Ho said Monday, and he said the
figure could rise further as the NASDAQ-listed gaming group seeks
other brands to broaden the appeal of the Philippines as a leisure
destination in Asia.
"It keeps going up. Our most recent number is $680 million
because PAGCOR will allow us more (gaming) tables...and we keep
finding great brands," Mr. Ho told reporters after launching the
second hotel brand in the City of Dreams Manila. PAGCOR refers to
the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the government agency
that regulates casino operations in the country.
City of Dreams Manila will open mid-2014 and is part of the
government's Entertainment City in the reclamation area on Manila
Bay, which was modeled after the Las Vegas gaming strip. City of
Dreams Manila will open with 365 gaming tables, 1,680 slot machines
and 1,680 electronic table games.
Melco Crown last year teamed up with Filipino billionaire Henry
Sy over the City of Dreams project, with both parties pledging $500
million each in order to meet the government's $1 billion minimum
investment. In October, the company raised its planned investment
amount to $650 million after clinching a deal to open a Crown Hotel
in the City of Dreams Manila.
The second hotel brand will be Nobu Hotel, the U.S. hospitality
company whose investors include movie star Robert De Niro. The
movie star was on hand to launch the hotel in Manila, the first in
Asia.
The partnership with Nobu "is a further step in realizing our
overall vision to deliver world-class and diverse innovative
lifestyle and entertainment...to broaden the appeal of the
Philippines as a leading leisure destination in Asia," Mr. Ho
said.
Mr. Ho said Melco Crown will employ around 5,500 workers, many
of them Filipinos.
PAGCOR expects five integrated casino resorts to operate at
Entertainment City by 2016, each investing at least $1 billion and
drawing more tourists to the country. PAGCOR expects the project to
generate around 1 million jobs. The first of the integrated resort
casinos, Solaire Manila, started operations in March last year.
Melco Crown is undertaking the investment through its
locally-listed unit, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp.
(MCP.PH).
Write to Cris Larano at cris.larano@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
