Australian casino operator Crown Resorts is shedding its remaining stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MRE), bringing an end to its decade-long international joint venture operations.
On Monday, MRE announced the launch of a public offering of nearly 28m American depositary shares, equal to 165m ordinary MRE shares, following MRE’s repurchase of Crown’s remaining stake in the joint venture, which operates casinos in Macau and Manila.
MRE said it expects this transaction to take be complete by May 15, as of which time “Crown Resorts will no longer hold any shares in Melco Resorts.” The transaction won’t dilute MRE’s shareholding, nor will it affect the size of stake held by MRE’s controlling shareholder Melco International Development Ltd, which will remain at 51.2%.
One year ago this month, Crown began reducing its 34.3% stake in MRE’s predecessor, Melco Crown Entertainment, as part of a sweeping refocus of Crown’s business on its domestic properties. Crown initially reduced its MCE stake to 27.4%, then further reduced its holdings to 11.2%, after which MCE announced its rebranding as MRE to reflect Crown’s diminished role.