The Securities and Exchange Commission approved an increase in the authorized capital stock of Suntrust Home Developers Inc. to P23 billion from P3 billion, paving the way for the entry of Hong Kong’s Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. into the company.
Suntrust said in a disclosure to the stock exchange over the weekend shareholders also approved the proposed amendments to the corporation’s primary and secondary purposes to allow it to focus on tourism-related businesses.
Of the P20-billion net increase in the company’s capital stock, 25 percent or P5 billion will be subscribed by Suncity’s subsidiary Fortune Noble Ltd.
Suncity after the transaction will have a 51-percent stake in the company, while the ownership of Megaworld Corp., Suntrust’s parent, will be reduced to 34 percent from 42.48 percent.
Suntrust in October entered into an agreement to develop Westside City, a 31-hectare integrated resort and casino in Entertainment City of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. in Parañaque.
Suntrust plans to lease the project site “for development of the main hotel casino and Westside is to appoint Suntrust as the sole and exclusive operator and manager of the main hotel casino.”
The lease will cover a period of 20 years at the annual rental of $10.6 million starting from the date of handover to Suntrust and automatically renewable for a further term of 25 years.
“Suntrust believes that the tourism sector, which has seen significant growth in the recent years, will continue to show sustainable growth and attract more investments. Suntrust is also optimistic that with the support of its shareholders, it will be able to drive more growth for the company and contribute to the tourism industry,” Suntrust earlier said.
Westside will be the fourth resort and casino development to rise in Entertainment City.
he first three are Solaire Resorts & Casino of Razon-owned Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which opened in March 2013, City of Dream Manila of Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp. which started in Decemner 2014, and Manila Bay Resorts of Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada, which wss launched in 2016.
Megaworld said in 2018 it would pour in an additional P54nbillion over 10 years in Westside City, mostly for residential and hotel projects.
The Suncity Group is known to have extensive experience in the leisure and entertainment business, and is actively seeking investment opportunities in integrated resort projects worldwide, including Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, South Korea, Japan, Russia and Vietnam.