The main lender to PH Resorts Group has revealed it plans to sell the Cebu property upon which the troubled firm was developing a large-scale integrated resort after it failed to meet a repurchase deadline under a previous refinancing deal.
Just days after PH Resorts Group revealed it was still in discussions over a potential partnership with a local construction firm that could have saved its touted Emerald Bay project, China Banking Corp (Chinabank) revealed it would instead pull the pin and was already in discussions with potential investors over a sale of the land in question, the Inquirer reports.
The sale follows an October 2023 refinancing deal struck between Chinabank and Lapulapu Leisure Inc (LLI) – the subsidiary of PH Resorts Group that was developing Emerald Bay. That deal involved LLI selling the property to Chinabank but with an option to buy it back by March 2025 should it successfully secure new investors.
As recently as Friday, when it released its 2024 Annual Report, PH Resorts Group – owned by billionaire Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp – said it remained confident of securing such investment and was “working on a possible repurchase option [from Chinabank] following its expiration on 31 March 2025.”
However, after a series of previous investment deals fell through – including one with Solaire operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp and another with Okada Manila parent Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) – Chinabank chair Hans Sy said the option to buy back the Cebu site was now off the table.
“We gave Dennis a chance to redeem [the property],” Sy told the Inquirer. “Of course, they asked for an extension and we already gave them more than a year. It’s already in our name.
“They don’t have to renew that [agreement] … we’re not renewing anymore.”
Sy added that there were “a couple of interested parties” for the 12.4-hectare site although it is unclear if these parties plan to resume construction of the stalled integrated resort project or knock it down for other purposes.
Emerald Bay had been envisioned to become Cebu’s second integrated resort after NUSTAR, with plans for a five-star hotel featuring two 15-story towers with 642 rooms, four pools, 18 food and beverage outlets, retail spaces, conference and exhibition facilities, and a large-scale gaming floor with more than 700 electric gaming machines and over 140 tables.
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