Sinophil unloads real estate assets

MANILA, Philippines - Dormant holding company Sinophil Corp. is unloading its real estate assets in line with the plan to make it the gaming unit of the SM mall and banking conglomerate.

Sinophil has taken the initial steps to secure all the gaming assets of the SM Group that includes the licensee of a $1.3-billion integrated casino project, the company said in a disclosure yesterday.

“Consistent with the decision for the corporation to take on the gaming business, it was authorized to sell to Belle Corp. its non-gaming related assets,” Sinophil said.

“Subject to the final terms of the disposition of the assets that will be agreed upon with Belle, it is expected that all such dispositions will be paid for by Belle in  cash,” it added.

Specifically, non-gaming assets of Sinophil consist of membership shares in Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club Inc., a lot located within the Aseana Business Park at the Manila Bay reclamation area, several parcels of land in The Parks at Saratoga Hills within the Tagaytay Midlands complex, and an undeveloped land in Tanauan, Batangas.

Last week, Belle, the SM Group’s upscale property developer and leisure gaming company, secured board approval to transfer its gaming assets to Sinophil.

Under the reorganization plan, Belle will inject its 100-percent ownership of Premium Leisure Amusements Inc. (PLAI) and its 34.5-percent stake in Pacific Online Systems Corp. worth P1.525 billion into subsidiary Sinophil.

PLAI is part of the consortium that holds the license for the $1.3-billion City of Dreams Manila that will be operated by Macau-based casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. Pacific Online is the online lottery system provider of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office in the Visayas and Mindanao.

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

It also committed to continue developing other assets, principally its properties in the Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands complexes, including the surrounding residential and leisure assets of over 800 hectares of currently undeveloped land.

“The company, which has been pretty much a dormant holding company for quite some time, will now be at the forefront of a very profitable industry based on the performance of the companies currently in the Philippine gaming market,” Sinophil said.