HongKong-listed casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment has expressed its intentions to pluck the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) casinos once the Philippine government decides to put it on sale.

Macau Business Daily reported that Melco is reportedly on the prowl for PAGCORs casinos, which the government intends to sell in the first quarter of 2018.

Melco chairman Lawrence Ho believes that the acquisition of PAGCOR casinos will put the firm in a strategic position in the country.

“If there was a big redevelopment opportunity, a whole hotel that we could redevelop, we would be potentially interested in doing that,” Ho said according to the report.