Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development Ltd, the parent of casino firm Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, says its licence to run a gaming venue in Sri Lanka is valid for a “term of 20 years effective from 1 April 2024”.
The casino at City of Dreams Sri Lanka, located in Colombo, “is expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2025,” stated Melco International in a Friday filing, GGRAsia.com a website and newsletter about the Asian casino industry said today.
The operations will be run by a unit of Melco Resorts.
The US$1-billion City of Dreams Sri Lanka scheme is a partnership with John Keells Holdings Plc, a Sri Lanka real estate developer.
The partnership had been announced in April last year, and relates to infrastructure started before the Melco brand’s involvement.
Melco Resorts had previously mentioned it would spend US$125 million as its contribution toward the casino resort.
According to Friday’s filing, the Sri Lanka government granted a casino licence to Bluehaven Services (Private) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Melco Resorts.
As part of the deal, the Melco brand recognised an intangible asset of LKR5.00 billion (US$16.9 million), “representing the casino license fee” for the Sri Lanka permit.
The license fee “will be amortised on a straight-line basis upon the commencement date of the operation of the Sri Lanka casino to the date of the expiry of the Sri Lanka licence,” said Melco International.
“The Sri Lanka casino is currently under development by the group and is expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2025,” added the company.
The Melco brand is controlled by entrepreneur Lawrence Ho Yau Lung.
The company said it aims to expand “its global footprint with the development of City of Dreams Sri Lanka”.
“The group will continue to take a strategic, asset-light approach to global expansion, actively exploring new opportunities in emerging gaming markets,” it added.
The group’s CEO said in late February that the group was adopting a new strategy, namely “to be asset light where we can, capitalise on our investments, and reallocate our resources”.
At the time, Mr Ho said the shift in strategy was one of the reasons for Melco Resorts to announce that it was ri “exploring potential strategic alternatives” regarding its involvement in the operations of the City of Dreams Manila casino resort, in the Philippine capital.
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