Macau group plans casino in Philippines
HONG KONG - Macau gambling company Melco Crown Entertainment is teaming up with the Philippines' richest man to develop a $1 billion casino resort in Manila in a sign of the industry's plans for rapid expansion in Asia.
Melco said late Thursday that it would develop the project with three companies controlled by Philippine tycoon Henry Sy. Melco is jointly controlled by Lawrence Ho, who is the son of Macau casino king Stanley Ho, and James Packer, the son of late Australian media magnate Kerry Packer.
Melco has signed an agreement with Sy's investment holding company SM Investments Corp., his property developer Belle Corp. and Belle subsidiary PremiumLeisure and Amusement Inc.
The Philippines' casino regulator has already issued a provisional gambling license to the group for the casino, which will be located in a middle-class suburb on Manila Bay. Melco expects to invest up to $580 million. The Manila project would be the company's first outside Macau, the world's most lucrative gambling market, where it operates two casinos and is developing a third.
Leaders of the Roman Catholic church had earlier spoken out against the project, saying it would promote a "culture of gambling" in the conservative, majority Roman Catholic Philippines.
