GGRAsia – Philippine regulator nods new casino resort for Clark

Philippine regulator nods new casino resort for Clark

Apr 06, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Philippine-listed Filinvest Development Corp announced on Thursday that it and a subsidiary had secured a provisional licence from the country’s gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) for development of an integrated resort in the Clark Special Economic Zone.

The project, branded as “Filinvest Mimosa Plus + Leisure City”, is to feature a casino, a mall, a five-star hotel and events venue on a 201-hectare (497-acre) site. The development also includes renovation of an existing non-gaming venue called Quest Hotel, two golf courses and some villas, Filinvest Development stated in a Thursday filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

A “minimum investment” of US$200 million was earmarked for the casino resort project in Clark, the filing also mentioned.

“Now that we have secured the provisional licence, we foresee further upsurge in tourist arrivals upon completion of the various project components. It is our intention to work with a leading casino operator who will align with our vision of a premier destination,” said Filinvest Development’s president and chief executive Josephine Yap, as stated in the filing.

Filinvest Development - which is the holding company of the Filinvest Group – is a conglomerate led by the Gotianun family. In the Thursday filing, Filinvest Development noted that it had submitted the application and all the necessary requirements to the Philippine gaming regulator for getting the provisional licence in 2017.

A consortium comprising Filinvest Development and one of its subsidiaries, Filinvest Land Inc, was awarded in January 2016 a 50-year lease on the 201-hectare site in Clark by the Clark Development Corp, according to a company announcement of that date.