CLSA tapped to handle Belle deal

Leisure estate and gaming firm Belle Corp. has mandated investment house CLSA Ltd. to arrange an equity deal worth as much as $200 million that will trim within this year its stake in future gaming investment holding arm Sinophil Corp.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, Belle said it had engaged the services of CLSA in connection with the possibility of selling a portion of its stake in Sinophil “at some future date, subject to market conditions.”

Asked about the value of the equity deal, Belle vice chair Willy Ocier said in a text message that it would be worth around $150 million to $200 million.

“There’s really no urgent need to do the placement for cash-raising purposes, except that it may be good to provide liquidity and wider research coverage for the stock,” he said.

In the disclosure, Belle said it had mandated CLSA to “study the feasibility of such sale of shares and, if feasible, to study options to optimize the liquidity of the Sinophil shares and maximize value to Belle’s shareholders.”

Sinophil, which shareholders agreed to rename Premium Leisure Corp., is nearly 90-percent owned by Belle with the infusion of Belle’s gaming assets.

Belle wants to reduce its interest in Sinophil, which will own half of the gaming operations of the upcoming City of Dreams Manila, to 67-70 percent to attract more investors.