GGRAsia – Bloomberry gets US$766mln loan for Quezon casino scheme

Bloomberry gets US$766mln loan for Quezon casino scheme

Feb 12, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Philippines-based casino investor Bloomberry Resorts Corp says two of its subsidiaries have signed an agreement for a 10-year loan worth PHP40 billion (US$765.8 million).

The proceeds of the loan will be used “to partially finance the design, construction and development of an integrated hotel and gaming resort located at the Vertis North Complex in Quezon City, Metro Manila,” said Bloomberry Resorts in a filing on Monday to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Construction of the second Bloomberry Resorts casino property in the Philippines was expected to start this year, the company’s chairman and chief executive Enrique Razon said in June 2018 after the firm’s annual shareholders’ meeting.

Mr Razon said at the time there was not yet a budget for the development, but a master plan would be ready by January this year. The entrepreneur had been quoted previously as saying that construction of the Quezon project should take about two years to be completed, and that the scheme would be mass-market oriented.

The development will carry the same Solaire Resorts and Casino branding as the group’s first major purpose-built resort at the Entertainment City complex at Parañaque in Metro Manila’s south.

Bloomberry bought a 15,676-square-metre (168,735 sq feet) land plot for the new project from the National Housing Authority in 2015. The site is located in Quezon City Central Business District, as part of the 29-hectare (72-acre) Vertis North urban development project.

The loan agreement announced on Monday was signed by Sureste Properties Inc and Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc, two subsidiaries of Bloomberry Resorts. The loan facility includes several lenders: Philippine National Bank; BDO Unibank Inc; Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co; Union Bank of the Philippines; Bank of Commerce; China Banking Corp; and Robinsons Bank Corp.

BDO Capital and Investment Corp was the lead arranger and sole bookrunner, while BDO Unibank Inc – Trust and Investments Group is the security trustee, facility agent and paying agent for the loan facility, said Bloomberry Resorts.

Bloomberry Resorts will be added to the Philippines’ PSE Index from February 18. The composite index of stocks is said to include top listed companies in that country measured by liquidity and market capitalisation.