Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited
Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Melco Resorts) operates as a subsidiary of Melco International, which owns 51.2% of the shares.[27] Referred to as Melco PBL Holdings until 2008[9] and Melco Crown Entertainment until 2017, the division owns the Mocha Clubs gaming cafe business and several casino resorts,[28] including City of Dreams Macau, Altira Macau, Studio City Macau and City of Dreams Manila. As of 2016, the subsidiary's holdings included 3,000 hotel rooms, 60 food outlets, and 16,000 staff.[8] Melco Resorts operates several subsidiaries in localized markets such as Cotai,[23] Macau,[8] and the Philippines.[31] In Cyprus, Melco Resorts operates through the subsidiary ICR Holdings, which in turn consists of subsidiaries such as Integrated Casino Resorts Cyprus Limited and ICR Cyprus Resort Development Co. Limited.[32]
The first iteration of Melco Resorts was formed in 2004 as a joint venture[16][9] between Melco and Publishing & Broadcasting Limited (PBL).[13] In September 2006,[8] the PBL-Melco venture spent US$900 million purchasing[13][18] the last of Macau's six gaming licenses from Wynn Resorts, allowing for the operation of "an unlimited number of casinos, tables and machines in Macau until June 2022."[13] In May 2007,[8]
On December 7, 2011, Melco Crown was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's main board. The following year, Melco Crown acquired a majority share of Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corporation, which was listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. Melco Crown began working on a new resort in 2012,[9] the $1 billion casino resort City of Dreams Manila.[33] In 2015, Melco Crown opened its $3.2 billion Studio City Macau resort after acquiring a 60% interest in the Hollywood-themed development in 2011.[34] Melco Crown had invested US$6.5 billion in Macau by July 2016,[8] with Melco Crown receiving the CSR Gold Award at Business Awards of Macau in 2013 and 2017.[28] In June 2017[35] the Cyprus government awarded the project company led by Melco group the first and only casino license in the country, granting a term of 30 years with exclusivity for 15 years.
After Japanese lawmakers pushed for legalized gambling in integrated resorts, by 2017 Melco Resorts & Entertainment was bidding[39] for one of an expected three licenses.[40] In 2018 Melco Resorts opened Morpheus, a $1.1 billion hotel tower designed by Zaha Hadid, at City of Dreams Macau. In the spring of 2018, Melco Resorts revealed its Macau resorts would rely on databases instead of junket operators to market to VIP visitors.[5]
