The rush to fill the Philippines with casino resorts is on, and another player entered the game on May 23. PH Resorts Group Holdings, the gambling and tourism company of Dennis Uy, announced they are working on a $600 million funding deal to build a resort in Mactan, Cebu, reports The Manila Standard.
The reveal was made on the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders meeting. Raymundo Martin Escalona, president of the company, told reporters, ““We are hoping to complete our fundraising activity over the next two to three months.” They also expect construction complete by the end of 2020.
The structure of the financing program looks like it will lean on the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) for 70% of the amount, with an additional 30% coming from equity infusion.
The Emerald, the name of the soon to rise resort, has been announced previously, and plans were divulged for a 1,300 room hotel. We now know a little bit more of how construction will progress, with 400 rooms constructed in phase one, with 100 tables and 600 electronic gaming machines.
“We are very optimistic about the project. If you look at gross gaming revenue, growth rate of in the Philippines in the last seven years is above 20 percent. That will continue to grow to help tourism,” Escalona said.
The firm’s president also touted the convenience for tourists to fly to Mactan rather than Manila. Whereas the Entertainment City is a developing resort district in a massive city, Mactan is a resort island first and foremost, with it’s own airport, many beach resorts, and basically built to be everything a tourist could want.
The rush to finish the Emerald isn’t terribly suprising, with several firms committing to build new resorts and casinos in recent weeks. Filinvest made more of their plans known for a $200 million resort in Clark on May 20, also deciding to avoid the congestion of Manila for their plans. Bloomberry is looking to build a bit closer to the capital, but avoiding the Entertainment City as well, with their new Solaire North plans.
The floodgates seem to have opened since Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte softened his stance on gambling. The question now is if this rush of casino development will grow the market, or if an oversaturation will stall the whole industry.
