Following the decision of NagaCorp Limited to pull out of the bidding process earlier this week, the race to build and operate the first casino resort for Cyprus is now down to just one candidate in a group led by Melco International Development Limited.
According to a report from the Macau Business Daily newspaper, Melco International Development Limited is controlled by gaming entrepreneur Lawrence Ho Yau Lung with the Hong Kong-listed firm recently revealing that it is ready to submit a final bid for the single Cypriot casino concession.
“The multi-national consortium [consisting of] Melco International Development Limited, Hard Rock International and Cyprus Phasouri Limited is ready to submit its final bid as per the official schedule [on] October 5, 2016,” read a statement from Hong Kong-based Melco International Development Limited, which operates the Studio City Casino Macau via its Melco Crown Entertainment Limited joint venture with Australian firm Crown Resorts Limited. “The consortium is looking forward to collaborating with the Cypriot government on this exciting project.”
If its project is approved, the Macau Business Daily reported that the consortium will receive a 30-year casino license for Cyprus along with 15 years of exclusivity while the group is to be able to build and operate a luxury 500-room hotel offering up to 1,000 slots as well as 100 table games.
The Melco International Development Limited consortium is reportedly interested in constructing its casino on the Mediterranean nation’s southern coast near Limassol, which is the island’s second largest city with over 100,000 people, while NagaCorp Limited was supposedly eyeing up a site 38 miles away in Larnaca.