GGRAsia – Solaire gets its full Pagcor gaming licence

Solaire gets its full Pagcor gaming licence

May 07, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc says it has received the full casino licence for its Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

The property – currently described as a US$1.2-billion project – opened on March 16, 2013 on a provisional licence from the country’s regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, known as Pagcor.

Bloomberry stated in a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday that it had applied on April 22 for its full permit. The filing didn’t mention reasons for the timing of the application, or confirm how long the full licence lasts.

Solaire is one of four casino resorts with a minimum investment of US$1 billion that Pagcor has approved for an area near Manila Bay known as Entertainment City.

Pagcor’s terms of reference – amended over time –for investors in Entertainment City include a provision that “local hiring for the whole hotel entertainment complex shall be 95 percent,” and that “casino employees shall be licensed by Pagcor and all casino non-officers must be locals”.

Solaire was the first of the Entertainment City resorts to open. It was followed by City of Dreams Manila which had a soft opening on December 14 and an official one on February 2. The latter is managed by a unit of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd, while the casino licence for City of Dreams is held by a consortium of local investors including interests linked to the business empire of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur Henry Sy.

Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp announced in a filing on Tuesday that City of Dreams Manila had been presented with its full casino licence on Monday. The firm confirmed the permit is valid until July 11, 2033.

It was reported in March that Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc – developer of the Entertainment City project Manila Bay Resorts, originally slated as a US$2.3 billion venture – would be allowed to “complete” the resort by the first quarter of 2017. Tiger Resort is controlled by Japanese gaming entrepreneur Kazuo Okada.

Philippines-based Travellers International Hotel Group Inc broke ground on the US$1.1-billion Bayshore City Resorts World – the fourth of the Entertainment City gaming resorts – in October. The completion of the scheme is targeted for the final quarter of 2018. Travellers International is a collaboration of Philippines-based Alliance Global Group Inc and Genting Hong Kong Ltd.