The $1.4B Mactan Leisure City casino plan in Cebu, Philippines is now a step closer to reality after US-based Sino-American Gaming Investment Group and casino junket operator Macau Resources Groupfound a Philippine-based partner.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Philippine-listed agri-business firm Calata Corp. announced that has forged an alliance with Sino American Gaming and Macau Resources to create a real estate and investment trust (REIT) for a P65-billion ($1.4 billion), 14-hectare Mactan Leisure City casino resort on Mactan Island, Cebu.
REIT is a stock corporation created primarily for the purpose of owning income-generating real estate assets.
Calata said in the regulatory filing that Sino American Gaming and Macau Resources will initially inject P836.10 million (US$17.98 million) into the project, which includes three luxury hotels, an entertainment complex featuring a full-scale casino, and retail shopping.
Of the P836.10 million (US$17.98 million) funds, an estimated P234 million (US$ 5.03 million) go into Calata, which in turn will invest the funds into its majority-owned corporate vehicle. The remaining P602.10 million (US$12.95 million) will be directly infused from Sino into Calata’s majority-owned corporate vehicle, the local firm told the PSE.
The group expects Mactan Leisure City, which is scheduled to open in 2020, to have a gross revenue of about P55.74 billion (US$ 1.2 billion).
Last year, Sino American Gaming said the companies plan to spend up to $1b on the two properties, one of which would be built on the island province of Cebu and the other near a proposed airport on the island of Napayawan in Masbate province.
The group would enlist hotel chain Banyan Tree to assist the development. Project backers are also looking to recruit the Marriott hotel group and an unidentified Las Vegas company to provide ‘entertainment.’
