Belle Corp, an investor at the City of Dreams Manila casino resort in the Philippines, said it would terminate a revenue-sharing agreement with gaming investor Leisure Resorts World Corp (LRWC).
LRWC had originally been earmarked to run casino operations at the venue, via its subsidiary AB Leisure Global Inc. Later, Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd was brought in as operations partner and the venue was named City of Dreams Manila.
Belle stated it signed on November 3 a fresh deal with LRWC and AB Leisure, which Belle said would enable AB Leisure “to realise its interests under its existing agreement with the Belle group”. The latter was a reference to a 2013 deal under which Belle granted LRWC a share in Belle group’s net revenues accruing from City of Dreams Manila.
Under the new agreement, Belle said it would pay the LRWC group a total of PHP5.09 billion (US$104.9 million), with approximately PHP1.02 billion paid on November 3. The remaining balance will be paid at the end of March 2017, the firm said in a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
In a separate filing, LRWC said the proceeds from the latest agreement with Belle “are intended to be utilised by the LRWC group on its core businesses”. Subsidiaries of LRWC operate gaming parlours that offer electronic games for bingo in the Philippines.
The deal between Belle and LRWC changed with the entry of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd in October 2012.
In 2013, Belle effectively granted the LRWC group an interest of up to 30 percent in the Belle group’s net revenues under its lease and licensee agreements concerning City of Dreams Manila. Under the 2013 agreement, AB Leisure waived its rights as a casino operator and contributed PHP4 billion to the development of the casino scheme.
“Under the terms of this newly signed agreement, the LRWC group will be able to finalise its transaction with the Belle group by the end of March 2017. Thereafter, the March 13, 2013 agreements will be deemed terminated,” Belle said in its latest filing.
