By Neil
Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 9, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - The leisure and gaming unit of property and banking conglomerate
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) has channeled the entire proceeds of its
P4.5-billion share sale for the construction of a mega-casino complex along
Manila Bay.
In a
regulatory filing, Belle Corp. said it used the amount to help in the
construction of the $1.3-billion Belle Grande Manila integrated casino and
resort.
In April,
Belle disbursed P3.19 billion of the proceeds from its stock rights offering,
with the remaining P1.33 billion allotted for the construction of Belle Grande
Manila.
In October
2011, Belle sold 1.5 billion common shares worth P4.5 billion through a rights
offering. Shareholders were entitled to buy one new Belle stock for every six
shares they own.
In March, the
local unit of Macau casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. formally inked
its partnership with Belle for the 6.2-hectare Belle Grande Manila, whose
construction started early in 2010.
The casino
complex will offer 20,000 square meters of gaming space and 900 hotel rooms. It
is located at Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (Pagcor) Entertainment
City, the Philippines’ answer to the gaming hubs of Las Vegas, Macau and
Singapore.
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Melco
co-chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho earlier said the company is banking on its vast
gaming network of Asians, particularly Hong Kong and Chinese visitors, that can
be diverted to the Philippines.
It will be
Melco’s first casino outside Macau where it operates the City of Dreams and
Altira Macau casinos. The company is developing its third casino, Studio City,
slated for opening in 2015.
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