GGRAsia – Casino investor PH Resorts delays share sale

Casino investor PH Resorts delays share sale

Mar 04, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc says it will postpone a follow-on-offering of its shares to a more appropriate time. The decision was made after recent investment initiatives and “careful consideration of its business strategies,” said the firm in a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

PH Resorts is a listed vehicle used by Philippine entrepreneur Dennis Uy’s privately-held Udenna Corp for the purposes of raising money for investing in new-build Philippine casino projects.

“During the course of PH Resorts’ roadshow and marketing efforts, it [the company] was presented with more strategically suitable alternative options for its funding needs. Thus, upon careful consideration, PH Resorts has decided to defer its offering,” said the firm’s president, Raymundo Martin Escalona, in a prepared statement contained in the filing.

PH Resorts confirmed to the country’s main bourse in January that it had obtained approval from regulators for a follow-on offer for its stock worth nearly PHP18.5 billion (US$357.3 million).

Documents previously filed by the listed entity had indicated PH Resorts planned to sell up to 1.78 billion shares, plus – depending on demand – an oversubscription of as many as 267.94 million shares at PHP9.00 per unit. The latter exercise was aimed at realising PHP24.1 billion gross.

Proceeds of the sale were intended to fund the design, construction and development of the first phases of two casino resorts in the Philippines, the company had said. Part of the proceeds would have been to finance the expansion of the Donatela Hotel in Panglao, in Bohol, while the rest would have been for general corporate purposes, added the firm.

The group confirmed in the latest filing plans to invest in a casino resort – referred to by the name “The Emerald” – on Mactan island, in the central Philippine province of Cebu; and in a second casino resort scheme – dubbed “Clark Resort” – at Clark Global City in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. The projected completion date of the latter scheme was said to be 2022, according to previous filings.

PH Resorts was previously known as Philippine H2O Ventures Corp. Udenna had its proposal to use Philippine H2O Ventures as a listed vehicle for tourism investment approved by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission in December.

In Friday’s filing, PH Resorts said it is “still eager” in pursuing the offering and fully intends “to resume the follow-on offer at the most apt time”.

“We shall keep the PSE informed of PH Resorts’ further plans once we have determined the new timetable for the offering,” PH Resorts’ Mr Escalona stated.