Megaworld takes over Sheraton Marina project

Upscale property developer Megaworld Corp. will soon take over the financing and development of the multi-billion peso Sheraton Marina Complex from Fairmont Holdings Inc. formerly known as BW Resources Corp.

In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Fairmont corporate information officer Francis Canuto said the board of directors has authorized the company to enter into an agreement with its parent firm Megaworld for the commercial development of the Malate project, including its financing components.

The move came after Megaworld asserted management control and effected a major revamp in Fairmont’s 11-man board last February, as the turmoil in the controversial gaming and property company’s business continued to make a dent in Fairmont’s operations, including the consistent decline in its share prices.

Megaworld said it would "undertake the reorganization of Fairmont as the first of a series of steps aimed at laying the groundwork for the strengthening of Fairmont’s fundamentals and the enhancement of its shareholder value."

Fairmont Holdings is the new corporate name of BW Resources Corp., which prominently figured in a stock market trading scandal in 1999. The case is now lodged at the Department of Justice where several defendants, including Dante Tan, a close associate of former President Estrada, still face criminal raps.

Megaworld is the biggest investor group in Fairmont with 72.12 percent of total outstanding stock while Tan is the single largest individual owner in the firm with around 12 percent equity. The rest of the major stockholdings are farmed out to foreign investor groups like the Savoy Group and Macau’s gaming king Stanley Ho.

Megaworld, which is into high-end property development for residential communities, commercial buildings and industrial park, took a majority stake in then BW via a P1.2-billion share-for-property swap involving the joint development of the Sheraton Marina Complex in Roxas Boulevard.

The project is still under construction and was originally scheduled for a soft opening late last year. Aside from the hotel, commercial and entertainment establishments, the project is intended to house facilities for its anchor tenant, the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor).