GGRAsia – US$200mln pay schedule for Manila site set: Suncity

US$200mln pay schedule for Manila site set: Suncity

Jan 21, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings Ltd says a Philippines-based subsidiary has reached an agreement with a third party for the payment schedule regarding the right to use a site earmarked for a casino scheme located in that country’s capital Manila.

The US$200-million payment would be to Westside City Resorts World Inc, which is a subsidiary of Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. The latter is in turn a venture between Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc and casino cruise ship operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd.

Suncity Group Holdings subsidiary Suntrust Home Developers Inc announced in October last year a “co-development” agreement with Westside for a property identified as “Westside City Resorts”. Under the deal, Westside and controlling shareholder Travellers are to lease the casino resort project site to Suntrust for “development of the main hotel casino”, and Westside “is to appoint SunTrust as the sole and exclusive operator and manager of the main hotel casino.”

Suncity Group Holdings said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday that, according to an agreement between Suntrust and Westside, “a refundable deposit in the sum of US$20 million” shold be paid by Suntrust to Westside “on or before January 31.”

The balance of the project site payment shall be paid within 10 days from the date on which all the conditions precedent under the co-development agreement signed between the two sides are fulfilled, according to the filing.

“In case the conditions precedent under the co-development agreement are not fulfilled by March 28, 2020 (or such other period as Westside and Suntrust may agree in writing), the deposit shall be refunded by Westside to Suntrust within 10 business days,” Suncity Group Holdings stated.

The project site payment “represents the payment for the use of the project site and reimbursement of the costs incurred on the project site and the construction works done on the project site,” Suncity Group Holdings had said in a filing last November.

The Westside City Resorts project will be located in Entertainment City, a 120-hectare (297-acre) parcel of reclaimed land in Metro Manila. Entertainment City as a whole is being marketed by the Philippine authorities as a casino cluster meant to emulate the success of Macau’s Cotai district.