PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc says its provisional casino licence for the stalled Emerald Bay Resort and Casino project in Mactan, Cebu, in the Philippines remains valid.
Philippine-listed PH Resorts is a unit of Udenna Corp, controlled by Philippine entrepreneur Dennis Uy.
The firm made the clarification in a filing on Friday to the Philippine bourse, following a news report by local media stating that the country’s regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), had revoked the provisional casino licence for the Emerald Bay project (pictured in a file photo).
PH Resorts said in its clarification that Pagcor had revoked the provisional licence for a different – also stalled – casino project promoted by the group in the Clark Freeport Zone.
PH Resorts’ unit, Clark Grand Leisure Corp. (CGLC), “received correspondence from Pagcor on September 19, 2024 regarding the Pagcor board’s approval of the revocation of its provisional licence. Pagcor also required CGLC to surrender the original signed copy of the provisional licence to finalise the matter,” PH Resorts stated.
It added: “However, PH Resorts wishes to clarify that the Pagcor board’s approval for revocation pertains to CGLC’s proposed integrated casino project in the Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, which is separate from the provisional licence issued to Lapulapu Leisure Inc and Lapulapu Land Corp [Emerald Bay’s developer entities, controlled by PH Resorts].”
PH Resorts also noted that CGLC had “previously sought the voluntary suspension of its provisional licence from Pagcor in October 2021 due to lingering uncertainties surrounding” the Clark Freeport Zone project.
Earlier this month, the SM Group-backed China Banking Corp (Chinabank) announced plans to sell a plot of land that is the site of the Emerald Bay project. In October 2023, PH Resorts restructured its outstanding indebtedness with Chinabank through an agreement on the sale and leaseback – with an option to buy back – of certain land and improvements of Emerald Bay’s developer entities Lapulapu Leisure and Lapulapu Land.
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