Buyer of Bloomberry’s Jeju Island hotel backs out

The plan of integrated gaming resort Bloomberry Resorts Corp. to pare down its stake in South Korea has hit a roadblock as the buyer of Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino backed out for lack of funds.

Bloomberry chair Enrique Razon Jr. told reporters at the sidelines of the Pilipinas 2016 Conference on Thursday: “We had a sale already done but it fell through.”

To recall, the company’s offshore unit, Solaire Korea Co. Ltd., entered into an agreement last June to sell its 96.23-percent stake in Golden & Luxury Co. Ltd. to the Lao Kun Group for about P4.7 billion.

Asked why the deal fell through, Razon said: “I think they ran out of money.”

Razon said Bloomberry was “not in a hurry” to look for new buyers now as business had started to pick up in Jeju Island.

Bloomberry’s Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino—which is five minutes away from Jeju International Airport—has 208 hotel rooms and suites, 2,125 square meters of gaming space, dining options featuring fresh local produce and international cuisine, a bar and lounge and other hotel facilities such as an event space. Prior to Bloomberry’s purchase and rebranding, it was called T.H.E. Hotel & Vegas Casino, one of the seven casinos in Jeju Island.

With its dramatic landscape—consisting of fine lava tube system of caves, waterfalls, gorgeous rock formations and lake-filled volcanic crater, Jeju Island is a major tourism hub in South Korea. It has been declared by Unesco as a world natural heritage site.

In the Philippines, Bloomberry’s business has likewise rebounded, resulting in the company’s return to profitability. In the past, Bloomberry’s investment in Jeju had contributed to its financial hemorrhage.

The developer of Solaire Resort and Casino posted P1.59 billion in net profit in the first nine months, reversing the P1.51-billion net loss in the same period last year, on record-high gaming and non-gaming revenue. In the third quarter alone, Bloomberry booked P1.42 billion in net profit, a turnaround from the P189-million net loss in the same period last year.

Apart from the investment in Jeju, Bloomberry has likewise invested in landbanking activities in South Korea.  It owns the 20.96-hectare Silmi Island which is adjacent to Muui Island where it owns a 12.2-hectare property.