Investors associated with Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc., the developer behind a planned casino resort in Manila, Philippines, must kick in an additional PHP19.37 billion (US$345.6 million) in cash as equity for the project, reports GGRAsia.
The funds are a condition of a fresh loan facility, per a June 12 filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange by Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd.
Suntrust is owned by LET Group Holdings Ltd., the majority owner of Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent. Suntrust is negotiating a loan of up to PHP25 billion with the Sy family-led China Banking Corp. “The loan facility will redound to the benefit of the company as the proceeds are intended to fund project costs and the construction of the main casino project,” Suntrust said.
Its casino hotel will be part of the Westside City project in Entertainment City on Manila Bay. It will include 450 five-star hotel rooms and a casino with more than 300 gaming tables and 1,300 electronic gaming machines. At completion in 2025, the casino “would cater to both mass and VIP markets,” the firm has stated. The overall price tag for the resort is in the $1 billion range.
Investors include Summit Ascent Investments Ltd., a unit of Summit Ascent; Andrew Lo Kai Bong, chairman of the LET Group, Summit Ascent and Suntrust; and Fortune Noble Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of LET Group.
Summit Ascent Investments must also support Suntrust “to ensure timely completion” of the casino hotel project and in a “timely” manner, “fund the cost overruns” of the project, GGRAsia reported.
“Facilitating the completion and opening of the main hotel casino is essential to the group in securing a return on its investment,” stated Summit Ascent in the filing. “The financial assistance helps in the obtaining of the loan facility by Suntrust … required for the development and completion” of the project.
In August 2022, the LET Group told shareholders it’s committed to “long-term investment in the Philippines” through the Westside City casino project. Yogonet Gaming News reports that Suntrust, partly owned by billionaire Andrew Tan’s Megaworld, earlier announced a target to open the Westside City casino in 2024. The project will be the fourth casino complex in Entertainment City, joining the Solaire Resort & Casino, City of Dreams Manila and Okada Manila.
