Japan’s Universal sells stake in Philippine casino land affiliate

The recent exit by Japan's Universal Entertainment Corp from a Philippine affiliate linked to its Manila casino-resort potentially removes a hurdle delaying the launch of the $2 billion project, the Philippine gambling regulator said on Wednesday.

 

Universal, controlled by billionaire gaming magnate Kazuo Okada, said in a Japanese stock exchange filing last week it had sold its entire 40 percent stake in Eagle II Holdco Inc, a holding company for the firm that owns the land on which the casino resort is being built, to local firm All Seasons Hotels & Resorts Corp for $2.9 million.

 

The sale could resolve potential legal issues linked to land ownership which have so far complicated attempts by Universal affiliate Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment Inc to drum up investors for the project.

 

Tiger holds the license for the casino, and the regulator, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), had made resolving the land ownership issue a pre-requisite for the casino to start operating.

 

Local law prevents foreign firms from owning over 40 percent of land and in 2012, a legal opinion by the justice department unit said Universal effectively owned more than the limit.

 

"If true, they will be able to address the issue of the nationality problem," Pagcor President Jorge Sarmiento told Reuters, adding that the regulator had yet to receive official confirmation of the sale.

 

A Universal spokesman declined to comment on the matter. In its filing, the company said the stake sale was completed in January and said All Seasons was owned by Filipino businessman Antonio Cojuangco, a relative of President Benigno Aquino.

 

Several attempts to contact All Seasons and Cojuangco were unsuccessful.

 

Pagcor last week confiscated a $2.2 million guarantee payment from Tiger and threatened to suspend its permit because of delays in the project.

 

Eagle II currently owns 60 percent of Eagle I Landholdings Inc., the registered owner of the lot near Manila Bay where the casino-resort is being built.

 

According to previous filings, the owner of the remaining stake was Aruze USA Inc, a US firm owned by Okada. In its latest Japanese exchange filing, Universal named the owner of the stake as Brontia Limited. The reason for the change was not disclosed. —Reuters