Udenna Group’s gaming and hospitality subsidiary PH Resorts Group Holdings, Inc. announced on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, that it has topped off two towers at the Emerald Bay casino beach front resort project on Mactan Island.
In a statement, the company said the topping off of Towers A and B came on the heels of the Nov. 5, 2020 follow-on offering of primary common shares that raised P756 million in gross proceeds.
“The topping off of Towers A and B represent a significant milestone in the ongoing construction of Emerald Bay. Going forward one will see more construction accomplishment on the façade as well as in the interiors,” said José Angel Sueiro, PHR chief operations officer.
“We are very much excited to be on the road to open Emerald Bay on spec, on time and on budget,” he added.
Phase 1 of the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino, the first integrated gaming resort outside Luzon, is targeted to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.
By then, it will feature 122 gaming tables for mass, premium mass and junkets; 600 electronic gaming machines and 270 hotel room bays.
The management team is, however, pushing for a soft opening by the end of 2021, and expects to increase its gaming capacity and hotel rooms starting 2022.
“Despite a very challenging year caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to achieve many project and company milestones. The topping off of the two towers in Emerald Bay represent a very major tangible and visible milestone in its construction,” PHR chairman Dennis A. Uy said.
“Our timetables make the scheduled completion of the first phase of Emerald Bay ready by the time we anticipate a marked recovery in the country’s tourism and gaming sector,” he added.
The Emerald, which is being developed on a 13.5-hectare property in Punta Engaño, was granted fiscal perks in early 2019 by the Board of Investments.
It will feature an aggregate gaming floor area of around 7,000 square meters, a five-star hotel with over 800 rooms, a retail complex with a gross floor area of 8,000 square meters, a convention center, and 18 restaurants.
Related story: The Emerald gaming resort in Mactan gets BOI tax perks
Udenna was granted a provisional license to operate a casino by gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) in May 2017.
Meanwhile, Udenna Corporation and PHR agreed that PHR will issue additional shares for the deposit for future stock subscription at the price of P1.68 per share, the same price as the follow-on offering price of PHR shares listed on Nov. 5, 2020.
The Related Party Transaction Committee, composed of the three independent directors of PHR, also unanimously approved the terms of the transaction. (Ventures Cebu)
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