Udenna stake in casino firm PH Resorts upped to 87pct

Dec 16, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Philippine conglomerate Udenna Corp has upped to 86.59 percent from 82.28 percent its interest in casino developer PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. The information was confirmed by the latter company in a Wednesday filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PH Resorts Group is the promoter of Emerald Bay, an under-construction casino resort in Cebu, in the Philippines.

Udenna Corp is itself 46.67 percent owned by entrepreneur Dennis Uy, with his wife Cherylyn holding a further 13.33 percent, according to the same filing.

The announcement confirmed that the upping of Udenna’s interest in PH Resorts was a result of the conglomerate’s subscription – for a consideration of just over PHP2.83 billion (US$59 million) – of nearly 1.69 billion of common shares from PH Resorts’ previously-unissued capital stock, at PHP1.68 per share.

The notice to the bourse additionally outlined that the consideration had been paid for in full in two tranches – in March 2019 and March 2020 respectively – and that it had already been booked to PH Resorts’ balance sheet.

Other details in the filing included that after the share subscription exercise, the public float in PH Resorts has been reduced to 13.3 percent, from 17.58 percent; while the percentage of foreign ownership had gone down to 3.91 percent, from 5.16 percent.

Earlier this month, PH Resorts said it had completed all the storeys of towers A and B at Emerald Bay.

According to a recent filing, Emerald Bay is being constructed in two phases, with the targeted completion of the first phase by the second quarter of 2022.

When phase one is finished, the venue will house 122 gaming tables for the mass, premium-mass and junket segments respectively; and 600 electronic gaming machines. It will also have “270 hotel room bays,” according to previous statements from PH Resorts.

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