Japan’s Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), the operator of Okada Manila, canceled its agreement to acquire Dennis Uy’s unfinished hotel and casino project in Cebu.
PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. (PHR) said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Tuesday it received a letter from TRLEI terminating the term sheet agreement dated Dec. 8, 2023.
“We understand that the Okada Manila operator no longer intends to pursue the Emerald Bay acquisition,” PHR president Raymundo Martin Escalona said in a statement.
“This development shall give PHR the opportunity to engage with other parties which have already expressed their keen interest in the Emerald Bay Project, but have been unable to formalize due to the restrictions under the TRLEI deal,” he said.
“We assure our shareholders and stakeholders, however, that the company’s management is already working towards another transaction, be it an acquisition, joint venture, or otherwise that will ensure the completion of the Emerald Bay Project,” he said.
Escalona said the company’s management is “working towards another transaction”to ensure the completion of the Emerald Bay project.
Share price of PHR plunged 19.44 percent to close at P0.58 apiece.
Under the term sheet agreement signed in December, TRLEI will acquire a significant majority ownership in the company that operates Emerald Bay. The parties intended to execute the definitive agreements this month.
TRLEI made a partial nonrefundable payment of P327.6 million to PHR as of end-March 2024.
TRLEI is the third company to abandon plans for PHR’s casino property called Emerald Bay. Earlier deals with Bloombery Resorts Corp. and Cebu-based developer AppleOne Properties Inc. also fell through.
Emerald Bay, the flagship project of PH Resorts, is envisioned to be the premier integrated resort in the Visayas and Mindanao. It will have a total of 146 gaming tables and 729 electronic gaming machines (EGMs) as well as 780 hotel room bays and five villas.
PHR obtained a provisional gaming license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation in 2017 for the Emerald Bay Resort, located on Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu City.
Phase one of the project was supposed to open in 2022, but was stalled due to funding issues and the pandemic.