Uy’s PH Resorts still exploring prospects

CEBU, Philippines — Listed PH Resorts Group is still considering several financing options for its casino projects, including its integrated resort and casino in Lapu-Lapu City.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the company clarified it hasn’t reached a “definitive agreement” yet for a stock offering over the next three months.

The leisure and gaming firm owned by tycoon Dennis Uy said it “is still considering several options as regards its funding plans and no definitive action has been decided by the board as of the moment.”

Last March 1, the company announced the postponement of its follow-on offering after its recent investment initiatives and careful consideration of its business strategies.

Originally priced at P3.65 to 5.84 apiece, proceeds of the supposed shared sale are intended to fund the design, construction, and development of the first phases of its two integrated casino resorts, The Emerald in Mactan, Cebu, and Clark Resort in Pampanga.

A portion, on the other hand, will finance the expansion of firm’s Donatela Hotel in Panglao, Bohol.

The company had said it was still eager to pursue offering at the most apt time.

“We shall keep the PSE informed of PHR’s further plans once we have determined the new timetable for the offering,” company president Raymundo Martin Escalona had said in a previous disclosure.

The Mactan resort will stand on a 13.5-hectare property on the island that will house a main gaming area, non-gaming amenities, a 300-meter beachfront, fitness studio and infinity pools.

The casino alone will have an aggregate gaming floor area of 7,585 square meters (sq.m.) during the first phase, and is set to expanded by 9,400 sq.m. in the second phase. The company also plans to develop a five-star hotel with around 1,300 rooms in the complex.

In 2018, PH Resorts made a backdoor listing at the stock exchange through Philippine H2O Ventures Corp. after H2O’s parent Jolliville Holdings Corp. executed a sale and purchase agreement to transfer its interest in the firm to Udenna Development Corp., PH Resorts’ parent.