Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is laying the proverbial foundation for its first overseas resort and casino project after announcing the company’s agreement to purchase a huge parcel of land located within South Korea‘s Incheon Free Economic Zone.
The specifics of the acquisition were not divulged, but Bloomberry disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that it had signed four real estate agreements with several land owners for an area totaling 12.2 hectares on Muui Island.
Muui Island, also known as Muuido, is located at the south of Yongyu Island and can be seen from Incheon International Airport. The company called the land acquisition the first step of its plan to turn the island into a “leisure and tourism complex with entertainment facilities and mixed use developments.”
Bloomberry said the acquisition will fall under its Korean subsidiary Solaire Korea Co Ltd. and that “more details will be disclosed as soon as conditions of the agreements are complied with.”
Bloomberry chairman and CEO Enrique Razon mentioned the company’s plans to expand its casino business last year, specifically mentioning Japan and South Korea as the two likely targets for this expansion, which would be the company’s second integrated resort and casino after Solaire Hotel and Casino in Manila.
News of the land purchase ignited the company’s shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange, rising to Php13.46 per share on Tuesday before closing the day at Php13 flat. That represented a 0.93% increase from Monday’s closing price of Php12.88.
The land purchase follows the company’s share sale in November that raised close to Php5.65 billion. Bloomberry has previously said that the share sale was done to help finance its overseas expansion.
In addition to the share sale, the company also opened its Phase 2 expansion of the Solaire complex, highlighted by the opening of Sky Tower, an all-suite, six-star hotel that adds to the resort’s growing number of hotel rooms, entertainment facilities and gaming space.
