Gaming | Okada finds partner for Manila casino

Kazuo Okada, chairman of Universal Entertainment Corp.

Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada’s group may have finally found a local partner to start commercial operations of its USD2 billion casino-resort project along Manila Bay next year, The Philippine Star reported yesterday.
Officials of Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment Inc., an affiliate of Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp., told The Star that they would announce their local partner “in the very near future” and are on track to open the project by 2016.
“Given that we have submitted a request for extension of our provisional license for the first quarter for 2017, we are actively targeting to open the property by 2016,” the officials told the Manila-based newspaper.
Tiger Resorts executives said the first phase of the $2-billion Manila Bay Resorts project would include a hotel, casino, night club as well “the iconic fountain and a variety of gastronomic restaurants to delight the Filipino palate.”
Tiger Resorts is one of four licensees of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to operate in Entertainment City, which is envisioned to become the country’s gaming hotspot.
The Okada Group, however, is barred from starting commercial operations for the mega-casino project without a local partner under the country’s foreign ownership rule.
Century Properties Group Inc. of former ambassador Jose Antonio was supposed to be Okada’s local partner for the project before their partnership went sour.
Century Properties was supposed to be in charge of developing a luxury residential and commercial project on a five-
hectare property at the
44-hectare Manila Bay Resorts project.
Yet according to The Star, the two parties announced last week that they have patched thing up following a recent “top-level” meeting.
With their issues amicably settled, Century Properties decided to withdraw its case against the Okada group.
But whether or not the two firms will pursue a partnership for the $2-billion Manila Bay Resorts project in Entertainment City remains in question as officials from both sides declined to comment.
Manila Bay Resorts is set to be the third of four integrated resort-casinos to open in Pagcor’s Entertainment City.
Bloomberry Resorts Corp.’s Solaire Resort and Casino was the first to open in the gaming hub, followed by Macau-based casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.’s City of Dreams Manila.