Philippines gaming investor PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. is talking to new potential investors to help it resume construction of the Emerald Bay integrated resort (IR) in Cebu Province.
According to the Philippine Star, on December 4 PH Resorts said it was conducting talks with new parties to get the stalled project back on track.
In October, the company signed a “non-exclusive and non-binding” memorandum of understanding with AppleOne Properties, which would have given the latter either a majority of the equity interest in two PH Resorts subsidiaries or some or all the assets for Emerald Bay, including the surrounding land.
But in a December 4 filing to Philippine Stock Exchange, PH Resorts acknowledged that the deal had not closed, so the group “is having substantive discussions with other parties.”
PH Resorts Group is the gaming and hospitality unit of the Udenna Group, run by Philippine billionaire Dennis Uy. The firm previously 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.
If funding is secured, Emerald Bay could become the second IR on Cebu, joining Nustar, which opened in 2022. Phase 1 is to include 146 gaming tables and 729 electronic gaming machines (EGMs) plus 780 hotel room bays and five villas.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, PH Resorts also said its subsidiaries have restructured debts owed to China Banking Corp. with agreements for the sale, leaseback and possible buyback of certain “land and improvements” of the subsidiaries. The restructuring applies to the 12.5 hectares (31 acres) of land in Mactan, Cebu, where Emerald Bay is based.
