Udenna continues expansion binge

Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp. is again on the prowl for investments in the hospitality sector after closing recent energy and fast food deals.

Uy-led PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc., the tourism arm of Udenna, is among the firms that are keen on bidding for the 25-year Balicasag Island Dive Resort project, Public Private Partnership Center deputy executive director Mia Mary G. Sebastian said in an interview.

The diving resort is located about 20 minutes via speedboat from Bohol’s Panglao Island and is run by Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, which wants a private sector partner to rehabilitate, operate and expand the project.

The expansion and upgrade alone is expected to cost P110 million, according to Tieza, which set the bid deadline on March 9 next year.

PH Resorts is competing against other big names. Other potential bidders include Filinvest Development Corp., the Gotianun family’s main holding company, and Panglao Bay Premiere Parks & Resorts Corp., part of a local Bohol conglomerate known as Alturas Group.

Another bidder was identified by Sebastian as Philippine Travel Factory & ST World Inc.

PH Resorts Group, a publicly listed company, is an emerging presence in the country’s tourism sector.

One of its biggest projects is the $350-million casino and hotel complex called The Emerald Bay. The project will rise on Mactan Island in Cebu and is expected to open by the fourth quarter of 2020.

The Balicasag Island Dive Resort will also bolster PH Resorts’ presence in Bohol, where it runs the Donatela Hotel in Panglao.

Uy has led Udenna through an aggressive debt-fueled expansion binge since the term of President Duterte began in 2016. Today, it is a holding company with businesses that span energy, property, retail, logistics, telecommunications, infrastructure and restaurants.

The company has not slowed down, announcing last month that it bought the 45-percent stake of international petroleum giant Chevron in the Malampaya gas field in offshore Palawan.

Through another subsidiary, Udenna also acquired the local operations of the Wendy’s fast food chain last month.

Apart from Balicasag Island Dive Resort, Tieza is also tapping the PPP route to operate and improve the 20-hectare Club Intramuros Golf Course, which rings the historic walled city of Intramuros in Manila.

Uy said the consortium of Filinvest Development Corp. and Filinvest Hospitality Corp. was the sole group that had expressed interest in the 20-hole facility, one of the first public golfing facilities in Asia.

Tieza expects the private sector partner to invest at least P250 million to rehabilitate and upgrade the golf course throughout the 25-year concession period. The bid deadline was set on April 15 next year. INQ