Suntrust mortgages most of its assets against bank loan

Jun 19, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc, the developer of a casino scheme in the Philippine capital Manila, has confirmed the mortgage of “all or substantially all of the company’s assets and properties” under an omnibus loan and security agreement.

The news followed a special stockholders’ meeting on Thursday, according to a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The group had announced a fortnight ago it was negotiating a loan deal with China Banking Corp – commonly known as China Bank – a Philippines-based privately-owned commercial bank for a loan facility of up to PHP25.00 billion (US$448.8 million currently).

Friday’s filing confirmed the omnibus loan and security agreement related to the same matter. It also mentioned lawyer Alvin Go had been elected as a regular director of the company.

The casino hotel complex (pictured in an artist’s rendering) is part of the Westside City project, being developed by Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. It 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 the firm.

The project had been described as having a price tag of approximately US$1 billion.

In connection with the fresh loan facility, investors linked to Suntrust will have to inject an additional PHP19.37 billion as cash equity into the project.

Suntrust said last month that construction work for the casino hotel in Manila had reached level 10 as of the end of the first quarter. The firm also reaffirmed a plan to launch operations in 2024.

In late May, Suntrust announced that its board had agreed to a US$6-million loan from a related party controlled by company chairman, Andrew Lo Kai Bong.

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