- Published on Wednesday, 12 December 2012 20:57
- Written by Miguel R. Camus / Reporter
THE Gokongwei family
formalized on Wednesday a much-anticipated joint venture with Japanese
billionaire Kazuo Okada for a $2-billion casino project in Entertainment
City Manila.
The deal will give the
Gokongweis a stake in the massive gaming complex, which has drawn some
of the country’s biggest business groups led by billionaires Henry Sy,
Andrew Tan and Enrique Razon Jr., while heading off potential
foreign-ownership issues for Okada.
A statement also on
Wednesday showed that Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp. signed an
“initial agreement” giving the listed developer a “minority stake” in
Okada-led Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment, which will operate
the casino and hotel project called Manila Bay Resorts.
In addition, the
statement showed that Robinsons Land would acquire “a majority stake in
Eagle I Land Holdings Inc., the landowner of the project site where the
former will handle the development of the commercial and residential
facilities, including a budget hotel.“
The final agreement will be concluded on January 31, 2013, the statement also showed.
Tiger Resorts is a
subsidiary of the Universal Entertainment Group, one of the four
franchisees in the Entertainment City project, spearheaded by state-led
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor). Robinsons Land is a
subsidiary of Gokongwei-led holding firm JG Summit Holdings Inc.
“The Manila Bay
Resorts complex is a casino resort complex that will boast luxurious
hotels, classy restaurants, commercial facilities, a budget hotel,
residences, Vegas-style water fountains and an enormous indoor pool with
real sand beach covered by a huge glass dome,” the statement further
showed.
Earlier reports said that the project could open by 2015.
Okada, who is locked
in a shareholders’ squabble with former partner Steve Wynn of Wynn
Resorts, again made headlines after Reuters last month ran a report
showing that US regulators are investigating millions of dollars paid by
Okada affiliates to a person linked to former Pagcor Chairman Efraim
Genuino.
Wynn and Okada, who
co-founded Wynn Resorts, had been at odds over the latter’s project in
the Philippines. Early this year, Wynn forcibly bought back Okada’s
20-percent stake in Wynn Resorts at a steep discount on allegations the
Japanese businessman violated US anti-corruption laws while making cash
payments and gifts to Pagcor officials.
Meanwhile,
developments in the Entertainment City are ongoing with Razon’s project,
operated by listed Bloomberry Resorts Corp., slated for opening in
March 2013. This will be followed in the first half of 2014 by Sy’s
Belle Corp., which partnered with Macau-based Melco Crown Entertainment
Ltd. The last to open by 2016 is Resorts World Bayshore, a joint venture
between Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. and Malaysia’s Genting Group.
Okada is in separate
talks with Tan’s Empire East Land Holdings Inc. over a possible
residential project in the Entertainment City, a previous disclosure
also showed.
CLSA Asia Pacific
Markets said that Philippine gaming revenues could grow to $3 billion by
2015, from an estimated $1.3 billion last year, with new developments
in the pipeline.
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