Razon sells 3.18% stake in Bloomberry

MANILA, Philippines — Ports and casino tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. has trimmed his stake in Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the operator of Solaire Resort & Casino, a move which is seen to widen public ownership.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Bloomberry said Razon, its chairman and shareholder, sold 3.18 percent of his stake in an overnight placement.

Prime Metroline Holdings Inc., the holding company of Razon, sold 350 million shares at P10.85 per share equivalent to P3.8 billion.

Razon said the move would widen public ownership.

“I am very confident of the prospects for Bloomberry. I believe that the increased liquidity in the stock will be beneficial for investors and the company,” Razon said.

The company tapped Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte. as the sole placement agent for the transaction.

Prime Metroline remains to be the largest shareholder with 65.58 percent of the company’s shares after the transaction.

Bloomberry managed to sustain its profitable operations.

In the first half of the year, Bloomberry reported  a 24 percent jump in profit to P4.1 billion on the back of robust gross gaming revenues.

In the second quarter alone, Bloomberry’s net income rose 47 percent to P1.95 billion from P1.33 billion a year earlier, driven by a 34 percent increase in profitability in Philippine operations and lower losses from Korean gaming operations under Jeju Hotel & Casino.

Solaire registered all-time high gross gaming revenues for VIP, mass table and electronic gaming machine segments.

Consolidated gross gaming revenues increased 16 percent year-on-year and 14 percent quarter-on-quarter to P12.22 billion in the second quarter– the highest since opening Solaire in March 2013.

Solaire, the first integrated resort to open in Pagcor’s 100-hectare Entertainment City in Parañaque, continues to attract both high rollers and the mass market despite tougher competition brought about by the opening of Okada Manila.