The Philippines subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment has raised US$377 million for its megaresort under construction in Manila and scheduled to open next summer.
Melco Crown (Philippines) confirmed the private share placement in a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange.
UBS and Citigroup, which jointly managed the offering, said it was six times oversubscribed, with more than 981 million shares sold to some 140 investors at $33.88 per share, 70% of them retained by parent Melco Crown.
The proceeds are slated for the completion of the $1 billion Belle Grande Manila Bay, a destination-scale casinos and hotel located at the government’s Entertainment City resort complex on Manila Bay in the capital city. Belle Grande is a joint venture between Macau’s Melco Crown and Belle Corporation, a unit of Philippine retail and property giant SM Group. Melco’s deal with Belle calls for Melco to operate Belle Grande in exchange for 50% of pre-tax earnings from the gaming side and 100% of the non-gaming earnings.
When completed it will be the second of four resorts licensed for Entertainment City. The first, Solaire Resort & Casino, opened in March. Solaire’s owner is Bloomberry Group, a PSX-listed entity controlled by ports tycoon Enrique Razon. Solaire is operated for a percentage of earnings and other incentives by US-based Global Gaming Asset Management, headed by former Las Vegas Sands executives William Weidner and Bradley Stone.
