Okada wins extension of PHL casino deadline
DONNING A traditional Filipino shirt hand-woven from pineapple fibers, Japanese casino mogul Kazuo Okada shovels dirt during a topping-off ceremony that marked work at his $2-billion casinoresort in Manila is nearing completion, and that the legal woes hounding the project have ebbed.
Mr. Okada has won the approval of the Philippine gaming regulator to extend the deadline to complete Manila Bay Resorts after his company Universal Entertainment Corp. committed fresh funds to finance the development of what would be the country’s biggest resort-casino property.
Mr. Okada flew to the Philippines to lead yesterday’s ceremony and to formally announce his partnership with local firm All Seasons Hotel and Resort Corp. of businessman Antonio O. Cojuangco — a relative of President Benigno S. C. Aquino III — in a bid to address land ownership issues.
“This is my main dream, to have an entertainment project for everyone to enjoy,” Mr. Okada said during the ceremony through an interpreter.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Vice President for Gaming Licensing and Development Francis P. Hernando said in a mobile phone message the state-run gaming regulator approved on June 25 the new timetable that pushed back the completion of Manila Bay Resorts to Dec. 31, 2016 from March 31, 2015.
Universal affiliate Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc. attributed the delay to the “increased scale of the project,” Mr. Hernando told reporters.
“There were certain terms and conditions that we asked for — for the extension — to which Tiger agreed. So upon fulfillment of those conditions, the extension will be effective,” he said.
Tiger Resort is a unit of Okadaled Universal Entertainment.
The main condition, Mr. Hernando said, is to “show proof that there are financial resources for the completion of the project which Tiger is ready to provide.”
$900M PLACEMENT
In compliance with Pagcor’s requirements, Universal Entertainment entered into an agreement with Deutsche Securities Inc. as agent for placement of between US$600 million and US$900 million in offshore private notes to partly finance the construction of the integrated resort.
When it opens, Manila Bay Resorts will have 1,000 hotel rooms and a 30,000-square meter (sqm) casino that will house 500 table games and 3,000 slot machines, Tiger Resort Executive Vice President Matt Hurst said.
The project will also have 25 food and beverage outlets, 7,500 sqm of retail space, a night club, a beach club, a spa and an iconic dancing fountain.
60-40 RULE
Securing the extension was the last hurdle for Tiger Resorts after the National Bureau of Investigation recommended the termination of the investigation and Mr. Okada satisfied the foreign ownership requirements under the Constitution, Mr. Cojuangco said.
The casino project had been hounded by allegations its proponents bribed Pagcor officials to get a license and violated the Anti-Dummy Law.
“As far as we are concerned, as far as our lawyers are concerned, we are qualified in the 60-40,” Mr. Cojuangco said.
All Seasons Hotels acquired a 40% stake in Eagle Land II Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of Universal Entertainment, which indirectly translates to “about 24%” of Eagle Land I Holdings, Inc., Mr. Cojuangco said. Eagle Land I owns the 40-hectare property on which the Manila Bay Resorts would rise.
Mr. Cojuangco declined to provide the value of his investment, but noted the acquisition cost for the property was $ 350 million, with its value going up every year.
OPERA HOUSE
The deal with All Seasons and another local group led by one Vicky Delos Reyes — a cousin of Mr. Cojuangco — ends the Okada group’s search for a local partner to resolve issues on foreign ownership of land.
Mr. Okada earlier engaged Robinsons Land Corp., Empire East Land Holdings, Inc. and Century Properties Group, Inc., but negotiations collapsed.
Talks between Mr. Cojuangco and the Okada group began around March 2014, around the time when the latter scrapped its partnership with Century Properties, Mr. Cojuangco said.
Mr. Cojuangco admitted he was not initially interested in the project because he was not into casinos.
“One of their Filipino contacts told me, ‘Sir, if you don’t help them, if they get frustrated with all the things that are going on here in the Philippines, he’ll just take his money elsewhere, leave the project here, abandon it and go to some other country and put his money there,’” Mr. Cojuangco said.
“When I saw their plans and I eventually got to talk to him and he told me exactly what he wanted to do, I felt he was the right person... I can’t match his resources but definitely, I want to be a part of their group,” he said, adding that his love for opera with an opera house set to rise on the property eventually bolstered his decision to pursue the partnership.
“I felt his leaving the Philippines and not investing in tourism will be a sorry situation for us because he has already put in a big chunk and by the time I talked to him, he’d put in $700 million.”
Mr. Okada intends to eventually list a company that may own shares in both the land and casino of the Manila Bay Resorts, Mr. Cojuangco said.
“That’s one of the long- term plans,” he said.