A Philippines subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment plans to sell as many as 1 billion new shares to help fund development of a casino at Manila’s new Entertainment City resort district.
Shareholders of the unit, Manchester International Holdings, approved the offering at a special meeting over the weekend, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report.
Terms of the offer, including the price, size and timing, have yet to be set, Manchester said, but Bloomberg estimates the sale would raise as much as 15 billion pesos (US$369 million) at current prices.
The company will be renamed Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp.
Melco Crown, which operates two Macau casinos and is building a third, paid 1.26 billion pesos for a 93.1 percent stake in Manchester. It plans to invest about $600 million in the casino in partnership with Philippines tycoon Henry Sy and Mr Sy’s SM Investments and Belle Corp. The US$1 billion project, named Belle Grande Manila Bay, will include a hotel and an array of non-gaming attractions.
Three other groups are licensed to develop resorts at Entertainment City: the Philippines’ Bloomberry Resorts, which is set to open its $1.2 billion Solaire Manila Resorts and Casino next month; a joint venture between Genting Hong Kong and Philippines-based Alliance Global Group; and a Philippines subsidiary of Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment.
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