Suntrust foreign ownership limit lifted

MANILA, Philippines — Suntrust Home Developers Inc., yesterday announced that its foreign ownership limit has been lifted.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Suntrust said that on Dec. 20, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the company’s application for registration under the Foreign Investments Act of 1991.

This means that the company’s foreign ownership limitation no longer exists.

“The SEC also approved the amendments to the company’s primary and secondary purposes, allowing the company to focus on tourism-related businesses,” Suntrust said in its disclosure.

At the same time, Suntrust said that at present, it does not own land and is not engaged in any nationalized or partly nationalized activity.

Suntrust is 51 percent-owned by Fortune Noble, a wholly owned subsidiary of Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. which is a listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Suntrust and Westside City are jointly developing a five-star hotel and casino project at the Manila Bayshore Integrated City in Parañaque.

Westside, in turn, is a subsidiary of Travellers International Hotel Group, which is a joint venture between Tan’s listed conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. and the Genting Group of Hong Kong, a casino and cruise ship operator.

The plan is to develop the five-star integrated casino resort in Parañaque City, completing the four casino operators in the 100-hectare Entertainment City, which is owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR).

Earlier, Suncity Group’ shareholders approved the project site payment of $200 million, Suntrust had disclosed.

Shareholders also approved the lease agreement with Suntrust as lessee and Westside and Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. as lessor.

Both Suntrust and Westside also entered into a supplemental agreement which covers the payment of further deposit of $46 million, together with a refundable deposit of $20 million.

The supplemental agreement also extended the fund raising period, or the date by which the conditions for the co-development agreement would be met. The new date is Sept. 30, 2020 from July 31, 2020.