Bloomberry bares second casino acquisition in Korea
Bloomberry Resorts Corporation (BRC) continues to aggressively beef up its casino investments in South Korea with two major acquisitions to bringing its Korean investments to three.
In two disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bloomberry said it signed an agreement with a group of shareholders of Golden & Luxury Co. Ltd. (G&L) for Bloomberry’s whollyowned subsidiary Solaire Korea Co. Ltd., to acquire up to 92 percent shareholdings in G&L.
G& L owns and operates T. H. E. Hotel & Vegas Casino, one of seven casinos on Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea.
"We are excited at the prospect of Solaire setting up a base in Korea and of introducing the Solaire brand of integrated resorts to the country,” said Bloomberry chairman Enrique K. Razon Jr.
He added that “this is our first venture outside of the Philippines, and the possibilities for expansion in this country are promising.”
Jeju Island is a popular vacation spot for Koreans, Chinese and Japanese. For Koreans, Jeju is a cultural treasure, and is stamped by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
The island attracted 2.3 million foreign tourists last year of which 1.8 million were from China. This year, the number of Chinese visitors to Jeju is expected to swell to 5.6 million.
Meanwhile, Bloomberry also disclosed that it has signed a real estate sales agreement for the purchase of the Silmi Island in the Republic of Korea.
Silmi Island has an area of 20.96 hectares and is adjacent to the 12.2 hectares property in Muui Island which was acquired by Bloomberry late in January 2015.
The island is also within in the coverage of the Incheon Free Economic Zone and is also intended to be developed into a leisure and tourism complex with entertainment facilities and mixed use developments.
The Silmi Island property will also be acquired by Solaire Korea Co. Ltd. Both transactions are still subject to several government regulations and the completion of certain conditions.
"Solaire is on a trajectory of growth and we are now slightly shifting our focus to other destinations. Although this will happen in the next few years, it is good business to start prospecting, and Korea is a likely choice because of its positive investment climate,” said Razon.
Silmi Island is in the Yellow Sea in the west coast of South Korea. It is 20 km from Incheon City and is about 5 km away from Incheon International Airport.
On the other hand, Muui Island is a popular tourist destination. It is located in Jung- gu, Incheon not far from the mainland and accessible by ferry.
One of the beaches, Silmi Beach, is connected to Silmi Island by tidal flats exposed for two hours every day during low tide, making it possible to walk from one island to another