Dennis Uy’s casino site now for sale
China Banking Corp. (Chinabank) will sell a 12.4-hectare beachfront property in Cebu province, where the casino of Dennis A. Uy-led PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. (PHR) was supposed to rise, until the company faced difficulties paying its obligations.
Billionaire Hans Sy, chair of the country’s fifth-largest lender, told reporters last week they would open the property for sale to “people who showed interest.”
“There are a couple of interested parties,” Sy said without disclosing the identity of the investors.
The sale involves the site of PHR’s long-delayed Emerald Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Lapu-Lapu City.
In October 2023, PHR subsidiary Lapulapu Leisure Inc. (LLI), which is in charge of developing the casino, entered into an agreement with Chinabank to restructure its multibillion-peso debt with the Sy family-led bank.
Leaseback deal
Under the leaseback deal, Uy’s company sold the property to Chinabank under the condition it could eventually buy it back by March 2025.
The restructuring allowed PHR to settle a P3.1-billion loan extended by Chinabank in 2018.
Until 2024, with the expiration of the sale and leaseback agreement, PHR tried “working on a possible repurchase option.”
However, Sy emphasized that PHR could no longer buy back the property.
“We gave Dennis a chance to redeem [the property],” he said. “Of course, they asked for an extension and we already gave them more than a year. It’s already in our name.”
“They don’t have to renew that [agreement] … We’re not renewing anymore,” Sy added.
After failed talks with three investors, PHR in December announced it had tapped listed construction firm EEI Corp. for the casino project that has yet to be completed since development began in 2017.
Fourth investor
PHR parent company Udenna Corp. signed a memorandum of agreement with EEI, which will execute agreements with LLI and Lapulapu Land Corp. to “finance, construct and complete” the project.
EEI is the fourth investor to take a risk on the Cebu project that was previously tagged as overpriced by analysts. Last July, Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), the operator of Okada Manila, backed out from the deal that would have finally nudged the Emerald project toward completion.
TRLEI’s exit followed those of Cebu-based developer AppleOne Properties Inc. and tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp., both in 2023.
