Melco Resorts files registration for Studio City IPO

Melco International Development has announced that it has publicly registered Studio City with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission in a bid to launch an initial public offering (IPO).

According to a statement this week, details about the size and price range of the IPO are yet to be finalized, although it has been confirmed that Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley will all play a role.

Melco Resorts is 51.2 percent owned by Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development, whose interest in Studio City will be reduced by an undisclosed sum as a result of the listing, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corporation, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Melco Resorts, declared in a filing that it would be submitting a tender for 1.5 billion shares, delisting its company from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The offer constitutes 27.2 percent of Melco Philippines’ outstanding capital stock, for a total of USD207.4 million.

In a filing with Hong Kong Stock Exchange, parent company Melco International Development Limited said that the corporation “viewed the listed status as an important tool in allowing [Melco Philippines] to raise funds in the Philippines public market, in order to provide capital for expansion and other business plans.”

However, it believes that Melco Philippines’ listed status in recent years “has not contributed to its ability to raise funds, despite considerable efforts and expenses being incurred to maintain its listed status.”

The tender offer report will be filed with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and PSE on September 17.

According to the company, the delisting and tender offer would allow MCO “to consolidate its interests in MRP to better support and facilitate MRP’s future business plans.”