GGRAsia – Bloomberry eyes to invest in Uy’s Cebu, Clark casinos

Bloomberry eyes to invest in Uy’s Cebu, Clark casinos

May 11, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Philippine casino resort operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp has signed an initially non-binding agreement – known as a term sheet – to invest in a unit of another Philippine business, PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc, that is developing several gaming resorts in holiday destinations in Cebu and Clark in that nation.

According to a Wednesday filing by Bloomberry to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the term sheet is with PH Travel and Leisure Corp. The terms were not disclosed at this stage.

PH Resorts’ parent is Philippine conglomerate Udenna Corp, controlled by local entrepreneur Dennis Uy.

Bloomberry, headed by ports investor Enrique Razon, controls Solaire Resort and Casino at Entertainment City in the Philippine capital Manila; and is also building a new resort near Manila, at Quezon City, which is currently due to open in the second half of 2023.

Bloomberry is now proposing to invest in units of PH Travel and Leisure.

They are: Lapulapu Leisure Inc, which is developing the Emerald Bay Resort Hotel and Casino (pictured in an artist’s rendering) in Punta Engano, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; and Clark Grand Leisure Corp, which is developing the Base Resort Hotel and Casino, in Clark, Pampanga.

The Philippines has been one of the first Southeast Asia nations to open to foreign tourism, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Philippine casino industry gross gaming revenue (GGR) could reach 85 percent of pre-pandemic level by the fourth quarter this year, said recently banking group Morgan Stanley.

According to Wednesday’s filing, completion of a deal is subject to: “the execution of mutually acceptable definitive agreements; approval of regulators; approval of creditors; completion of audited financial statements; corporate approvals, and cooperation on due diligence,” among other things.

The same information was given by PH Resorts Holdings, in a filing to the Manila bourse the same day.

The latter firm had said in an October filing that the first phase of Emerald Bay had an estimated cost of US$238.5 million. The whole project had a US$465.4-million budget.

At that time, the company said the first-phase completion of Emerald Bay had been delayed until the first quarter, 2023. The company previously mentioned a first-phase completion in the third-quarter 2022.

PH Resorts had said in a separate filing in October that the country’s gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), had approved a request from Clark Grand Leisure to suspend a provisional gaming licence for a casino in Clark.

That filing had stated: “The voluntary suspension also allows PH Resorts to ramp up and focus all efforts for the construction and development of its flagship integrated resort and casino project, the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino, located in Mactan, Cebu.”