Suntrust gets US$5mln loan from LET for Westside scheme

Jul 28, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc, the developer of a casino hotel scheme (pictured in an artist’s rendering) at Westside City in the Philippine capital Manila, says its board approved on Thursday a US$5-million loan from its indirect controller, Hong Kong-listed LET Group Holdings Ltd.

It must be repaid “within 10 years from execution date unless extended by the parties”. The repayment period could be curtailed in any “event of default”, that Suntrust might face, said the filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The loan will help “fund project costs and construction of the main hotel casino” at Westside City, described as part of the Entertainment City cluster of commercial-sector casino resorts in Manila.

LET Group, chaired by businessman Andrew Lo Kai Bong, is also the controlling shareholder of Hong Kong-listed Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, an investor in the Tigre de Cristal casino resort, near the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok.

In an earlier filing on Thursday, Summit Ascent Holdings had disclosed a directly-held unit of the company has agreed to subscribe to convertible bonds in the principal amount of up to PHP13.51 billion (US$247.5 million) to be issued by Suntrust.

The filing added that current construction and development costs before Suntrust’s main hotel casino can start operation were estimated at US$1.1 billion, of which US$491 million “has already been raised” as of the Thursday filing date.

The casino resort scheme is to feature 460 five-star rooms, and a casino establishment that “would cater to both mass and VIP markets,” according to information previously disclosed by Suntrust. The firm said in June it aimed to start operating the venue next year.

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