Belle consolidates gaming assets

MANILA, Philippines - Belle Corp., the SM Group’s upscale property developer and leisure gaming company, said yesterday it would undertake a reorganization of its gaming assets under a separate listed entity.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the company said its board of directors has approved the corporate reorganization plan.

Under the plan, Belle will inject its 100-percent ownership of Premium Leisure Amusements Inc. (PLAI) and its shares representing 34.5 percent of Pacific Online Systems Corp. (POSC) into Sinophil Corp., a Belle subsidiary listed on the PSE.

PLAI is part of the consortium that holds the license for the City of Dreams Manila to be operated by Macau-based Melco Crown. This is located in the sprawling 100-hectare Entertainment City owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the state-run  gaming regulator.

Belle will retain direct ownership of the land and building of City of Dreams Manila, from which it will continue to receive rental income, Belle said.

Furthermore, the company said it would retain direct ownership and continue to develop its other assets, principally its properties in the Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands complexes, including surrounding residential and leisure assets of over 800 hectares of currently undeveloped land.

“The reorganization is expected to be completed on or about August 2014,” Belle added.

Belle is engaged in property development, particularly the development of golf courses, country clubs, residential properties, and other leisure and resort facilities.

Aside from its property development business, Belle is indirectly engaged in other gaming-related activities through its investments in various subsidiaries and affiliates, through its wholly owned subsidiary PLAI and affiliates Pacific Online Systems Corp. that leases online betting equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for their lottery operations in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.