Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the operator of Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila, announced in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines that its investment pre-agreement with PH Travel and Leisure Corp was terminated.
Term Sheet Termination
The filing with the SEC confirmed the news that the board of billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.- owned Bloomberry Resorts had approved a resolution to terminate the term sheet it had signed with a subsidiary of PH Resorts Group Holdings, a group of companies owned by Davao-based tycoon Dennis Uy.
According to the information provided by Bloomberry Resorts and cited by The Inquirer, its board decided to terminate the term sheet “after considering the results of due diligence on the target companies and the projects.”
In May, Bloomberry Resorts signed term sheet to invest in two PH Travel and Leisure subsidiaries: Lapulapu Leisure Inc., which is currently developing the Emerald Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Punta Engano in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, and Clark Grand Leisure Corp., which is developing The Base Resort Hotel and Casino in Clark in Pampanga, subject to a number of closing conditions.
By that time, both Bloomberry Resorts and PH Resorts Group immediately attracted investor interest and their shares grew as markets welcomed the addition of Razon’s deep pockets and experience in gaming to Uy’s casino projects and the casino industry was starting to recover from the pandemic.
The news that Razon withdrew from the projects resulted in investors dumping shares of PH Resorts, part of Udenna Group, forcing its share price to drop by more than 9%, though later partly recovering to close down 5.9%. At the same time, Bloomberry Resorts’ share price rose by 2%.
Pursuing Other Investors
PH Resorts issued a confirmation that the deal with Bloomberry Resorts was off after trading hours, stating that it would allow the group to pursue other investors that were previously put on the back burner.
PH Resorts president, Martin Escalona, outlined that, while unfortunate that a deal was not closed, it would allow both parties to pursue their own plans, and PH Resorts would most likely reenter into discussions with other parties that have been considered secondary to Bloomberry Resorts’ investment proposal.
Located on 12.4 hectares of land on the beachfront in Cebu, Emerald Bay will feature a casino with 146 gaming tables and 729 gaming machines, and offer luxury accommodation in hotel rooms and villas. The other casino project, The Base in Clark Global City, will be on a 4.4-hectare lot and feature an adventure-themed integrated casino resort.