Melco International Development has announced that satellite operator Grand Dragon Casino and three of the Mocha Clubs will cease operations before the end of the year.
According to a company release on Monday, the satellite casino and Mocha Hotel Royal, Mocha Kuong Fat and Mocha Grand Dragon Hotel are closing after considering the company’s ‘overall development strategy and in accordance with Macau law’.
Macau’s satellite casino grace period finishes at the end of this year, before which operators have to determine their fate.
Due to the closure of the four venues, Melco notes that the relevant employees ‘will be assigned to work at other properties of Melco Resorts in Macau, which will secure continued employment for these employees within their current job duties’.
In addition, the group notes that the gaming tables and electronic gaming machines from the four venues will be ‘re-allocated to, and continue operations at, other casinos or gaming areas of Melco Resorts in Macau’.
Under Melco’s concession, it is allowed to operate in Casino Altira, Casino City of Dreams and Casino Studio City – properties that it owns.
It is also allowed to operate in seven other locations that it doesn’t own outright, including the four mentioned above.
Regarding the other three Mocha Clubs locations – Mocha Inner Harbor, Mocha Hotel Sintra and Mocha Golden Dragon – Melco indicates that it ‘will apply for the relevant authorizations and approvals’ from the Macau government ‘to continue operations after December 2025, subject to compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements’.
Under the satellite casino law, these operations will fall under a management contract, with the owners of the venues receiving the quantity defined in the contract and Melco receiving the gross gaming revenue generated by the venues.
