The announcement emerged on the same day when the Cypriot government gave formal permission to Hard Rock and its partner Melco International Development to proceed with the plan. Melco is set to purchase Hard Rock’s 35.37% stake, thus increasing its own holding in the future casino resort to 70.74%. Local partner CNS Group owns the remaining 29.26% stake.
The Melco-Hard Rock consortium was the sole bidder for the Cypriot casino license after casino operators NagaCorp and Bloomberry Resorts Corp. pulled out their bids shortly before the October 2016 deadline set by the island nation’s government.
Last Monday, the casino operators and their local partner as well as government officials signed the deal which authorized the project and sealed the terms of the license. Under said license, developers will build a full-scale casino resort in the city of Limassol, a smaller, satellite, casino in Nicosia and three slot parlors in the Famagusta, Larnaca, and Paphos districts.
The license will be valid for 30 years and Melco and its local partner will hold the monopoly over casino gambling in Cyprus for the first 15 years. After that period, the government will consider the possibility to authorize more such venues, provided that the country’s casino industry has produced the desired effect on the country’s tourism and overall economy.
Construction on the main casino in Limassol is set to commence later in the summer but it will probably not be before late 2019 that it swings doors open. A temporary casino will be launched in the city in the meantime.
News about Hard Rock and Melco parting ways in their joint venture in Cyprus came days after it was announced that the two companies would no longer pursue a license for an integrated resort at the Tourist and Recreation Complex (formerly known as BCN World) in Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region.
Source: GMB / Casino News Daily
