Suntrust says to operate casino of Manila scheme

Nov 05, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Philippine-listed Suntrust Home Developers Inc said on Tuesday it would “build and operate its hotel and its areas of the casino” in a long-awaited Manila, Philippines casino project that has previously been referred to as “Westside City Resorts World”, and before that, “Bayshore City Resorts World”.

The firm became last week a majority-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. That was followed by a “co-development” agreement - between Suntrust and another firm called Westside City Resorts World Inc – for the Manila scheme.

Under that deal, the Westside entity and controlling shareholder Travellers International Hotel Group Inc – a venture between Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc and Hong Kong-listed Genting Hong Kong Ltd that also runs the Resorts World Manila casino resort in the Philippines – are to lease the Westside City Resorts project site to Suntrust for “development of the main hotel casino”. Additionally, Westside is to “appoint Suntrust as the sole and exclusive operator and manager of the main hotel casino,” Suncity Group Holdings Ltd said on October 29.

The new venue – identified by the company as “Westside City Resorts” – is to start operations “by fourth quarter 2022”, Suncity Group Holdings told GGRAsia. It will be located in Entertainment City, a 120-hectare (297-acre) parcel of reclaimed land in Metro Manila. Entertainment City as a whole is being marketed by the Philippine authorities as a casino cluster meant to emulate the success of Macau’s Cotai district.

Media reports in the Philippines had questioned under what capacity Suntrust could run a casino in the country. Suntrust’s Tuesday filing stated that Travellers, through its subsidiary Westside City, would “manage the entire Westside City integrated resort and assume full responsibility as licensee.”

According to information by Suncity Group Holdings, Travellers’ gaming licence is valid until July 2033.

Under the “co-development” agreement between Westside and Suntrust, the latter shall pay Westside 1 percent of VIP gross gaming revenue (GGR) of its casino at Westside City Resorts; and 3 percent of slot-machine and mass-market table GGR.

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