Okada on track to open $2-B gaming complex by 2015

MANILA, Philippines - The group of Japanese gaming billionaire Kazuo Okada said yesterday it remains on track to open its $2-billion gaming complex in the Philippines by the third quarter of 2015 despite numerous challenges on the ground.

Kenji Sugiyama, vice-president of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., said they expect to hire a total of 15,000 direct and indirect employees upon completion of Manila Bay Resorts, the third of the four integrated resorts and casinos to open in the 100-hectare Pagcor Entertainment City in Paranaque.

“Our construction is progressing according to schedule. Currently, this construction includes the hotel tower and casino floors. We project mass hiring of operational staff during our planned opening in the 3rd quarter of 2015,” Sugiyama said in a statement.

However, Pagcor chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr. said Manila Bay Resorts would not be allowed to open its casino pending  resolution of several issues which include foreign equity limit on land ownership in the Philippines as well as the bribery charges filed against Okada and his companies.

Sugiyama said the group is still scouting for a local partner for the project following the termination of its agreement with the Antonio family’s Century Properties Group (CPG).

He said the group regrets having to scrap the deal it entered into with CPG but maintained that the cancellation was due to the withdrawal by one of the three parties from the agreement. 

Sugiyama was referring to First Paramount Holdings 888 Inc., a privately-held firm headed by businesswoman Alice Eduardo, as the third party in the agreement which pulled out of the deal.

CPG and First Paramount was supposed to acquire 36 percent and 24 percent, respectively, of Eagle 1 Landholdings Inc., which owns the 44-hectare land where Manila Bay Resorts will rise as part of Manila’s Las Vegas-style gaming and entertainment hub.

 â€œWe regret that the development turned out the way it did.We wish to say that there have been no financial transactions with CPG and the Okada group,” Sugiyama said.

CPG sued the Okada group for terminating the deal, arguing this was in violation of the investment agreement they both signed last year.  It noted that provisions under the deal “provided alternative measures to exhaust all reasonable means for said agreement to come to a close.

Among these measures include negotiating an alternative structure that will preserve the commercial terms of the agreement and finding a replacement for First Paramount.

CPG demanded that the Okada group comply with its closing obligations.

The Okada camp, however, stressed that it continues to comply with respective laws and regulations both in Japan and in the Philippines.