PH Resorts Group Holdings (PHR) announced that they have provided a $42.5 million advance on the Emerald Bay Resorts and Casino project in Cebu. This should help to get the $341 million project back on course, which will become their showcase property in Mactan.
The integrated game resort developer, owned by the Udenna Corporation, issued a statement on October 18 from their president, Raymundo Martin Escalona, as part of a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange. In the statement, the president explained that “This advance represents a significant step in realizing the completion of the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino.”He added:
“We are very excited to finish the first integrated resort in the Philippines outside of Entertainment City in Metro Manila.”
This project is scheduled to open in 2022 on a 33-acre parcel of land in Mactan. The project has faced some challenges already, requiring Udenna to sell 25% of the stake in the project to Phoenix Patrolling Philippines for about $80 million.
Earlier this year, PHR began the process of selling common shares stock in the project, but that plan was scrapped after the prospects for raising the needed amount at the valuation of the stock proved to be poor.
Since being granted the provisional license by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the project seemed like it would not get off the ground. The company broke ground on the resort and Casino in December 2017, but it has been slow to move forward. Now everything seems to be back on track.
With the cash advance, the initial phase of the project will move at a quickened pace. The first phase , when completed, will include a 7,600 square meter gaming area that will have 1,186 electronic gaming machines and 146 gaming tables. The new project will have 838 rooms and a retail complex area of 8,000 square meters of space. Also included will be a convention center and 18 restaurants.
Once that first phase is completed, the second phase will get underway. This will include a 9,400 square meter gaming area as well as a five-star hotel that will contain 1,300 rooms.
This will be the first of three major casino projects in Mactan. The Philippine government is hoping that privatizing these casinos could generate as much as $4.2 billion in annual revenue to the government. This is why there has been growing concern among officials about the delays related to this project, which should now be dispelled with the cash advance.
