Mactan casino project gets ‘advance’ of $42.5M from Dennis Uy’s Udenna

Integrated gaming resort developer PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. (PHR) has tapped a $42.5-million loan from a unit of its parent firm, Udenna Corp., to fund its casino project in Mactan, Cebu.

“This advance represents a significant step in realizing the completion of the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino,” said PHR president and chief executive Raymundo Martin Escalona in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

The money was advanced by Emerald Development Holdings Ltd., an offshore entity wholly owned by Udenna Corp.

Escalona added: “We are very excited to finish the first integrated resort in the Philippines outside of Entertainment City in Metro Manila.”

The Emerald Bay will rise on a 13.5-hectare site in Punta Engaño, Mactan.

Last year, PHR shelved a follow-on offering worth as much as P12 billion to consider other funding options.

PHR earlier gained backdoor ticket to the local stock exchange through Philippine H2O Ventures Corp. It is now the holding entity for the tourism-related businesses of the Udenna Group, which includes the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino integrated resort in Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan, Cebu, the Donatela Hotel in Panglao, Bohol, and The Base integrated resort in Clark Global City in Angeles, Pampanga.

Upon completion, the first phase of the Emerald is expected to have 7,585 square meters of gaming floor area, with around 1,186 electronic gaming machines, 146 gaming tables, an 838-room hotel (including five villas), a retail complex with 8,000 sqm of space, a convention center and 18 restaurants.

The second phase covers 9,400 sqm of gaming area and a five-star hotel with 1,300 room.

Led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, Udenna group has interests in various sectors, among others: oil, gas and retail through Phoenix Petroleum; shipping and logistics through Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure; property development and management through Udenna Land; education and food through Gruppo Enderun; and infrastructure development through Udenna Infrastructure. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA