Sy-led China Banking Corp. (Chinabank) is opening up for sale the site of Emerald Bay Hotel and Casino in Cebu, after giving Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy’s PH Resorts Group Holdings (PHR) over a year to repurchase the property.
Chinabank chairman Hans Sy said the company will start with parties who have shown interest for the property, which PHR — through its subsidiary Lapulapu Leisure Inc. (LLI) — sold to Chinabank in 2023 as part of a debt restructuring agreement as it had to settle a P3.1-billion loan.
“We gave Dennis really a chance to redeem. Siyempre nakikiusap (Of course he is appealing), but we have already more than a year. It’s really in our name,” Sy said in a recent interview with reporters.
“We always do things with a heart. We gave him a chance. We don’t want to really be ano, very ruthless,” he said, as he said a year and a half has already passed.”
Under the agreement between the two parties, PHR would lease back the land, and was given an option to repurchase the property, but such option expired in March.
“No more na. It’s expired na, we’re not renewing anymore,” Sy said, noting that parties have already shown interest in the property given its location.
“I can answer you already: no, because with our own SM Group, we have our hands full,” he added, when asked if the SM Group would be interested in acquiring the property.
The property, an estimated 12.4-hectare land located on the Punta Engaño peninsula of Mactan Island, was set to host Emerald Bay which was planned to have 7,585 square meters of aggregate gaming floor area and a five-star hotel with approximately 838 rooms.
The integrated resort was targeted to have a soft opening in March 2022, but PHR cited difficulties on labor and delivery of materials due to the quarantine measures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To recall, among those that previously expressed intent to invest in the project are AppleOne Properties Inc., Bloomberry Resorts Inc., and the latest being Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., but such parties have since exited. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
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