Last week, Philippines gaming investor PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. announced that it’s found a new partner to help it finish construction of the Emerald Bay integrated resort (IR) in Cebu Province.
In a December 11 filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PH Resorts said Tiger Resort Leisure & Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), operator of the largest integrated resort in Manila, has signed a “preliminary agreement” with two PH subsidiaries, Lapulapu Leisure Inc. and Lapulapu Land Corp., in an agreement that will give it majority ownership of the project.
TRLEI operates the Okada Manila resort complex in Metro Manila’s Entertainment City casino district. According to the Cebu Sun-Star, pending government approval, the deal should close by July 2024.
PH Resorts has tried several times without success to jumpstart the suspended development.
Last October, it signed a “non-exclusive and non-binding” memorandum of understanding with AppleOne Properties, which would have given the latter either a majority equity interest in the two subsidiaries or some or all of the assets for Emerald Bay, including the surrounding land. But the deal fell through earlier this month.
Before that, the firm looked to Solaire Resort owner Bloomberry Resorts Corp., owned by Enrique Razon Jr., to buy into Emerald Bay as well as a second suspended project in Clark, the Base Resort Hotel and Casino. Bloomberry pulled out of that deal in March.
PH Resorts Group is the gaming and hospitality unit of the Udenna Group, run by Philippine billionaire Dennis Uy. If funding is secured, Emerald Bay could become the second IR on Cebu, joining Nustar, which opened in 2022. Phase 1 of the Mactan Island project is to include 146 gaming tables and 729 electronic gaming machines (EGMs) plus more than 600 hotel rooms and five villas. It will also feature four pools, 18 food-and-beverage outlets, retail spaces and conference and exhibition facilities.
“In PH Resorts’ partnership with Okada Manila, we hope to turn Emerald Bay Resort into a symbol for, and a catalyst of, the development of Cebu as the center of the Visayan tourism market in the Philippines,” said Uy.
PH Resorts President and CEO Raymundo Martin Escalona added, “We are very excited about the prospects that our partnership with TRLEI will bring. There are very strong and broad synergies that have been identified which will result in a very mutually beneficial relationship.”
Byron Yip, president and chief operating officer of TRLEI, said, “This new venture is aligned with our strategy to increase our footprint in the Philippines, given our remarkable success with Okada Manila. We are excited to bring our signature level of hospitality and service excellence to a new and discerning market.”
