Davao tycoon Dennis A. Uy may have found a new partner in the Yuchengco Group's construction affiliate, EEI Corporation, for the development of his Emerald Bay Resort and Casino Project in Mactan, Cebu.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Emerald Bay owners PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. (PHR) said its parent firm, Uy's holding company Udenna Corporation, has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with EEI concerning the Emerald Bay Project.
The Yuchengco Group recently reduced its stake in EEI to 30.85 percent by selling minority interests to various investors, including 20 percent of EEI to House Speaker Martin Romualdez's RYM Business Management Corporation.
“In particular, the MOU provides an avenue for a potential partnership between EEI and PHR, upon execution of definitive agreements and subject to the fulfillment of conditions precedent and regulatory approvals, if any,” PHR said.
It added, “the MOU also paves the way for EEI to execute an agreement with PHR and/or its subsidiaries, Lapulapu Leisure, Inc. (LLI) and Lapulapu Land Corp. (LLC), to finance, construct, and complete the Emerald Bay Project, upon execution of definitive documentation.”
This follows the termination last July of a term sheet between PHR and the Okada Group’s Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., which had planned to take over the Emerald Bay Project by acquiring a significant majority ownership of LLI and LLC.
TRLEI is the third investor to drop out after Cebu-based developer AppleOne Properties Inc. and tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Bloomberry Resorts Corporation. Aside from its gaming license, PHR’s Emerald Bay Project will benefit from a seven-year exclusivity period in Lapu-Lapu City upon completion.
PHR has received a letter of financial support from Udenna stating that it shall extend its full and continuing support for PH Resorts with regard to the P1 billion deposit from Bloomberry “until such time that the Group is in the position to repay this amount without impairing its liquidity position.”
On May 6, 2022, PHR signed a term sheet with Bloomberry, which planned to invest in the group’s Mactan and Clark casino projects, and the Razon-led Bloomberry made a P1 billion deposit.
Bloomberry later decided not to proceed with the acquisition, and the parties agreed to settle the P1 billion deposit through the execution of certain transactions before the end of 2024.