Suncity Group, the residential and commercial property developer listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, is expanding its stake in the Philippines property management company Suntrust Home Developers, Inc, after a “CB Subscription Agreement” was signed to see it subscribe to convertible bonds to the amount of $145 million and reach 74.42% share in the Philippines firm.
From 51% to 74.42% Stake
In October 2019, Suncity acquired the initial 51% stake in Suntrust through its wholly owned subsidiary Fortune Noble Ltd, and the convertible bonds purchased under the new condition of the initial “Shares Subscription Agreement” will be converted into ordinary shares pending fulfillment of certain conditions.
In a filing to the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Suncity explained this was needed to provide funding for the development of a hotel and casino at Westside City Resorts World in Manila’s Entertainment City. Furthermore, the acquisition of the new shares in Suntrust will minimize the risk of Suncity’s stake being diluted by potential further capital increases by the real estate management company.
Hotel & Casino Development
The $700 million hotel and casino Suntrust will build will feature 400 five-star hotel rooms and a gaming floor of 400 tables and 1,200 slot machines, and will be part of Westside City Resorts World, a joint project of Travellers International Hotel Group and Megaworld Corporation. Megaworld is also holding 43.5% of Suntrust, with another 5.5% owned by Aurora Securities.
The hotel and casino in the leisure and entertainment resort is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2022, and will be operated by Suncity, after the Hong Kong-based company recently announced it signed a 45-year lease agreement with Travellers and Westside.
Hoiana & Wakayama IR
Suncity has been aggressively entering the gaming and hospitality industry lately, looking forward to becoming a truly integrated resorts company. In Vietnam, the property developer was granted casino operator license for the $4 billion Hoiana casino integrated resort. The joint development between Suncity Group Holdings and VinaCapital Group will spread across 165 hectares of land, along 4km of coastline, featuring besides the casino an 18-hole golf course, as well as restaurants and hotels, with more than 1,000 rooms available for accommodation of its guests.
In Japan, Wakayama Prefecture, Suncity will have until end of August to submit its integrated casino resort project for evaluation, after prefecture officials approved the company for the second round of the private sector partner selection process. If Suncity’s project gets better evaluation than the other candidate’s one, Clairvest, it has all chances of building one of three integrated casino resorts in Japan, provided that Wakayama Prefecture is granted a slot.