Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group has announced plans to increase its share in a Philippine subsidiary, SunTrust and its planned Manila casino from 51 percent to approximately 74.42 percent.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, Suncity made the move after indicating it will use its fiscal reserves to exempt shareholders from losses recorded from February to May, and after receiving a 60-year license to operate its Hoiana integrated resort in Central Vietnam.
In February SunTrust signed a lease agreement to use a site in Manila, where an integrated resort known as Westside City Resorts will be developed.
In a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, Suncity said it would subscribe PHP7.3 billion (US$144.7 million) in zero coupon convertible bond for cash through its subsidiary Fortune Noble Ltd. The bond subscription will not only provide funding for the hotel and casino, Suncity said, but “minimize the risk of the Group’s percentage interest in Suntrust from being diluted in the event of future equity related funding exercise of Suntrust.”
Westside City Resorts World is a multibillion-dollar joint project between Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., operator of Resorts World Manila and Megaworld Corp. The entertainment district is being developed on 31 hectares (76.6 acres) in Manila’s Entertainment City .
Suntrust will build the $700 million hotel and casino. It will feature 400 gaming tables and 1,200 slot machines across both VIP and mass gaming, plus 400 five-star hotel rooms. Suncity Group has signed a 45-year lease agreement with Travellers and Westside to operate the hotel and casino, due to open at the end of 2022.
SunTrust still needs to obtain the necessary consent, approval and waiver from SEC and other relevant governmental authority in the Philippines to sign the agreement.
In related news, in a June 1 filing Suncity said it is aiming to take a 70 percent interest in Summit Ascent and make the company into a subsidiary. Summit Ascent operates the sole integrated resort in Vladivostok, Russia, Tigre de Cristal. The casino hotel opened in late 2016, and is the first property in what is planned as an entertainment cluster with multiple integrated resorts.
Under the proposed deal, Victor Sky, a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Suncity Group, which currently holds a 22 percent stake in Summit Ascent, will see that stake upped dramatically. Together with Suncity’s direct stake in Summit Ascent, it will control nearly 70 percent of the shares. The value of the deal is about HK$1.2 billion (US$161 million).
