NEWS

(Photo: GGR Asia)

PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc, promoter of Emerald Bay (pictured in a file photo), an under-construction casino resort in Cebu, in the Philippines, is to raise just under PHP599.2 million (US$11.9 million) gross, from a placing and subscription transaction involving parent firm Udenna Corp.

The exercise would be “bringing in capital to support the ongoing construction and development of the Emerald Bay resort and casino project,” stated a Thursday filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange. Anything left over, would go for general corporate purposes, added the filing.

The deal involves Udenna Corp offering 352,441,000 common shares of PH Resorts it already owns, priced at PHP1.70 per share, “via a private placement, to certain qualified buyers”. Simultaneously, Udenna Corp will subscribe to the same number of shares from PH Resorts, at the same price.

“The proceeds from the sale of the offer shares will fund the subscription by Udenna Corp of PH Resorts common shares in the subscription tranche,” said the filing.

It added: “The placing and subscription transaction allows [PH Resorts] to raise capital in a most expeditious and efficient manner to partially fund the ongoing construction and development of Emerald Bay.”

The exercise is subject to the approval of the Philippine bourse. If it goes ahead, the public float in PH Resorts will increase from 13.30 percent to 17.50 percent, according to Thursday’s announcement.

The parent Udenna Corp’s holding in PH Resorts will go down from 86.59 percent, to 82.40 percent, stated the document.

According to a Monday filing to the Philippine bourse of PH Resorts’ second-quarter and first-half 2021 results, the first phase of Emerald Bay is due to be completed “in the third quarter 2022”, the same date the firm mentioned in a May announcement.

PH Resorts saw its total comprehensive loss widen by about a third, to PHP175.5 million for the six months to June 30, from PHP134.4 million in the prior-year period.

Source: GGR Asia