GGRAsia – Premium Leisure plans casino investment in Clark: report

Premium Leisure plans casino investment in Clark: report

Jul 18, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Premium Leisure Corp, an investor in the City of Dreams Manila casino resort in the Philippine capital, is said to be planning to invest at least US$300 million in a separate casino resort in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga province, in the Philippines.

That is according to a report by Reuters, quoting two sources that said Premium Leisure had already applied for a licence to build and operate a casino property in Clark.

“Aside from the casino, there will be a convention centre and a hotel,” one of the sources told the media outlet.

Premium Leisure, which delisted from the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on July 9, is now a privately-held unit of Philippine-listed Belle Corp. The latter is a subsidiary of SM Investments Corp, the country’s most valuable company.

SM Investments has interests that range across shopping malls, banking, residential and office towers, retail, mining and logistics.

Premium Leisure earns a share – via one of its units – of the gaming revenue generated at City of Dreams Manila, a casino resort run by a unit of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd.

Reuters cited Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at investment bank China Bank Capital in Manila, as saying that Clark “is emerging as a promising growth market for gaming and leisure,” with the possibility of becoming “the next major integrated resort hub”.

According to Mr Colet, Premium Leisure’s planned investment in Clark may boost the intended initial public offering (IPO) of Hann Resorts, the master entity behind the Hann Casino Resort and Hann Reserve schemes at Clark.

The Hann group is said to be planning an IPO worth between PHP15 billion (US$256.6 million) and PHP20 billion, targeting to list on the Philippine bourse early next year.

Hann Resorts’ vice president for finance, Mitchell Amador-Estacio, told GGRAsia that the group was “currently evaluating various financing alternatives,” but had “not decided on the specific course of action”.