Melco Resorts Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho says that discussions with potential Japanese partners have already escalated in the days since lawmakers passed the long-awaited IR Implementation Bill.
Speaking to news agency Bloomberg over the weekend, Ho pointed to his company’s track record of working with partners in Macau, Manila and more recently Cyprus and said he expects to link with a local Japanese partner within the next few months.
“Since the law passed last week most of the Japanese corporates are more engaged,” Ho said.
“I think over the next few months those discussions will be a lot more active. In terms of who we’re talking to? We’re talking to everyone because ultimately we just want to be part of a winning consortium and we’re very open-minded.”
Asked if there was a need to engage a Japanese partner, Ho said, “We are definitely looking at a partnership for our Japanese IR business because even without the need, ultimately in Japan there is a lot of consensus building and you really need all the stakeholders.
“Given the sheer magnitude of these projects, it’s very important to get buy-in from the Chambers of Commerce, associations, SMEs and the local communities.
“In Macau, Manila and even Cyprus where we have businesses we have always worked well with partners.
“Traditionally in the gaming world partnerships have never worked but at Melco we have had some of the best partnerships that have lasted more than 10 years.”
Melco currently operates its second Macau IR, Studio City, in partnership with US hedge funds Silver Point Capital and Oaktree Capital Management, its Philippines property City of Dreams Manila with Premium Leisure Corp and its under-construction Cyprus resort City of Dreams Mediterranean with CPZ. Its original Macau partnership with Australia’s Crown Resorts came to an end last year after more than a decade.
Whoever Melco eventually partners with in Japan will need to be prepared to spend big with Ho confirming his intention to hold nothing back and pointing to major metropolitan centers such as Osaka and Yokohama as his primary location targets.
“I want to build the most awesome thing ever, I want to go wild in building this, so the prefecture that we can achieve that has to be one with great infrastructure, close access to an international airport and also with tourism appeal,” he said.
“We spent over US$10 billion in Macau and I think to build something amazing and awesome and the most technologically advanced, a smart city, is going to cost at least that in Japan so we really need a bigger city – a bigger city close to Tokyo like Yokohama and Osaka. Those are our prime candidates, those cities.”
