Belle to spin off gaming assets into unit Sinophil

Leisure estate and gaming firm Belle Corp. is set to spin off key gaming assets—including the stake in upcoming gaming hub City of Dreams Manila and online lotto equipment operator Pacific Online Systems Corp.—into dormant holding firm Sinophil Corp.

This will transform Sinophil into an investment holding arm for gaming-related assets of Belle, which is majority owned by the group of tycoon Henry Sy.

The reorganization of Sinophil was expected to be completed by August this year, Belle said in a statement Monday.

The board of Belle and Sinophil approved on Monday a reorganization plan for Sinophil to take on the gaming business and interests of the group. Belle went on a voluntary trading halt yesterday ahead of the announcement of material information that could affect its stock price. Sinophil had likewise gone on voluntary trading suspension since Friday.

Under the plan, Belle will inject its 100-percent ownership of Premium Leisure Amusements Inc. (PLAI) as well as its 34.5-percent stake in POSC into Sinophil.

PLAI is part of the consortium that holds the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. license for City of Dreams Manila to be operated by Melco Crown Philippines and located at the Pagcor-led Entertainment City complex in Roxas Blvd.

Belle will retain direct ownership of the land and building of City of Dreams Manila, from which it will continue to receive rental income. It will also retain direct ownership and continue to develop its other assets, principally its properties in the Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands complexes, including surrounding residential and leisure assets of more than 800 hectares of undeveloped land.

PLAI was acquired by Belle from the SM group in 2011.

Belle has a gaming partnership with Macau’s Melco Crown Entertainment to put up and operate City of Dreams Manila. This entertainment complex is expected to start operations by October this year. The complex is envisioned to provide visitors with an exceptional world-class gaming and entertainment experience, international standards of retail, food and beverage and hotel amenities alongside diverse lifestyle and entertainment offerings.

“City of Dreams Manila”, carrying the same brand as Melco’s existing entertainment hub in Macau, will have hotel towers offering 950 rooms, including VIP and five-star rooms, 20,000 square meters of gaming space, up to 365 gaming tables and 3,300 slot machines. The gaming component was upgraded from the original allocation of just 240 gaming tables and 1,450 slot machines.

Pacific Online, on the other hand, leases online betting equipment to the PCSO for the latter’s lottery operations.