GGRAsia – AGI to invest US$300mln in Boracay scheme with casino

Alliance Global Group Inc (AGI), already an investor in the Philippines’ first large-scale casino complex, Newport World Resorts, said in a Monday filing that the group plans to “infuse” US$300 million in a casino to be built in Boracay, part of a real estate development.

The update to the Philippine Stock Exchange said the group “plans to build its first casino within Megaworld’s Boracay Newcoast township,” a development for that Philippine holiday island (pictured in a file photo).

The statement from Alliance Global added: “The project will be undertaken by AGI’s subsidiary, Boracay Newcoast Resorts Inc (BNRI) and will be smaller in size than its integrated resort and casino project, Newport World Resorts.”

The parent added: “Given this, its prospective financial impact on BNRI and AGI would also be smaller as compared to that of Newport World Resorts.”

“The group commits to infuse US$300 million to the project, in accordance with BNRI’s provisional licence” with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), the country’s casino regulator, said the company.

The filing said Alliance Global was following up on a request from the Philippine bourse for comment from Alliance Global, on a news article titled “Kevin Tan eyes 150-hectare Boracay township for 1st casino outside Manila” posted on the InsiderPH news website on Saturday. That was a reference to comments by the chief executive of Alliance Global.

In August, Alliance Global said Travellers International Hotel Group, its majority-owned unit controlling Newport World Resorts, had seen its second-quarter gross revenues rise 17 percent sequentially, to PHP10.9 billion (US$189.5 million).

In the past, Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd had seen its name linked with a possible scheme for Boracay with a Philippine partner, but in October last year clarified it was not seeking such a move.