Gambling chips stacked around roulette wheel on casino table.
Tycoon Dennis Wong is courting EEI Corp., a construction company co-owned by the Yuhengco family and a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to complete his long-delayed casino project in the central Philippines.
Uy’s Udenna Corp. and EEI signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop the casino, which was initially estimated to cost $465 million and is expected to be completed in March 2022.
Udenna is the parent company of PH Resorts Group Holdings, the developer of the Emerald Bay Resort and Casino on Mactan Island in the central Philippine province of Cebu. The resort will include a five-star beachfront hotel with 642 rooms in two 15-story towers, retail outlets and a gaming area that will feature 700 electronic gaming machines and 140 gaming tables.
“The MoU provides for a potential collaboration between EEI and PH Resorts, subject to the execution of a definitive agreement and the satisfaction of conditions precedent and regulatory approvals, if any,” PH Resorts said in a statement filed with the stock exchange on Monday. “.
EEI is jointly owned by RYM Management (an investment vehicle of the family of Martin Romualdez, Marcos’ cousin and speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives) and the Yuhengco family. The Youchengko family represents the heirs of the late tycoon Alfonso Youchengco, who has a net worth of $360 million and is involved in banking, education, insurance and real estate.
Plans for the Emerald Bay integrated casino have been long delayed as Mr Ng grapples with growing debt after the Covid-19 pandemic hammered his conglomerate, which has interests in telecoms, restaurants, petrol stations and shipping businesses. and working to raise new capital.
Investors who previously eyed Wong Casino but later backed out include port power billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. and Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada Group, which operates a casino in Manila Integrated casino resort.
