Bloomberry also plans new investment
PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc., a hospitality company owned by Philippine businessman Dennis Uy, will spend more than PHP52 billion (US$1 billion) to fund the construction of two casino resorts.
In a filing cited by the Manila Standard, PH Resorts revealed that its planned PHP18.48 billion share sale includes a budget of $665 million for the completion of the Emerald, an integrated resort and casino on a 13.5-hectare (33.3-acre) site in Punta Engaño, Mactan Island, Cebu.
Work on the Emerald began in December 2017 and is expected to be completed by late 2020. Phase I will have 7,585 square meters (82,000 square feet) of gaming space with 1,186 electronic gaming machines, 146 gaming tables, a five-star hotel with 838 rooms including five villas, a retail complex, a convention center and 18 restaurants.
Phase II is expected to have around 9,400 square meters (101,000 square feet) of gaming space, a five-star hotel with 1,300 rooms and F&B and retail areas.
PH Resorts is also spending $276.6 million for the development of Clark Resort, an integrated resort in the Clark Freeport Zone, which will break ground this year and is scheduled for completion in 2022. That IR will have 600 electronic gaming machines, 100 gaming tables, 400 hotel rooms and a retail and restaurant complex.
The company also budgeted $40.9 million to buy the Donatela Hotel in Bohol and expand the hotel’s current operations, the Standard reported. Ignacia Braga IV, vice president of finance for PH Resorts parent Udenna Corp. said the projects will be funded in part by a sale of PHP18.48 billion in PH shares. The sales is supposed to take place in March or April.
In related news, according to Inside Asian Gaming, Philippine casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. has secured a loan of PHP40 billion (US$767 million) to fund the design, construction and development of its planned casino resort in Manila’s Quezon City.
The loan was signed by Bloomberry subsidiaries Sureste Properties Inc. and Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. and has a term of 10 years.
Lenders for the combined loan facility include Philippine National Bank, BDO Unibank, Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Union Bank of the Philippines, Bank of Commerce, China Banking Corporation and Robinsons Bank Corp., with BDO Unibank Inc. Trust and Investments Group named as the security trustee, facility agent and paying agent, IAG reported.
