Enchanted Kingdom owner seeks restructuring of P1-B loan

The owner of Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Amtrust Leisure Corp., is asking its creditors to restructure over P1 billion of loans as the company seeks investors to finance future projects.

Amtrust chairman and president Mario Mamon told reporters yesterday that the company was close to reaching an agreement with its 13 major creditor banks to give it between five to seven years to settle its debts.

According to Mamon, Enchanted Kingdom had good prospects, but the company needed breathing space to recover from the economic crunch and to improve its position when it starts negotiating with possible investors.

Enchanted Kingdom is the country’s largest and only theme park located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It is visited by an estimated 800,000 to 1.1 million people every year since it opened in 1996.

Although the economic slowdown has affected the spending pattern of Filipino consumers, Mamon said the park’s revenues had increased by four percent during the first months of 2001, indicating that growth would continue until the traditional peak months of October to December.

"We are looking for strategic partners, both foreign and local," Mamon said. "We want to get partners who could invest fresh capital and perhaps even help us reduce our indebtedness."

According to Mamon, Amtrust’s principal loans amount to less than P1 billion, excluding accumulated interests. He said the company has been in negotiation with its creditor banks and it was currently reaching the conclusion of the talks for the restructuring of its loans.

Over 51 percent of its loans, Mamon said, are from 13 major banks led by Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, United Coconut Planters Bank, Equitable PCI Bank, International Exchange Bank, Development Bank of Singapore, United Overseas Bank and Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Mamon said the restructuring would improve Amtrust’s position when it starts negotiating with investors. He said the banks’ agreement to the proposed restructuring would serve as a seal of good housekeeping and continued confidence on its prospects.

"Fortunately, none of our loans are dollar-denominated," Mamon said. "We also never got to the point where we needed a suspension of payment on our loans. We just need a breathing spell."

Amtrust had just completed the construction of a new ride this month dubbed as the Rio Grande Rapids, a P100-million river rafting ride covering over one hectare of its 16-hectare theme park.

Designed by O.D. Hopkins of the US, Mamon said the ride was already a major crowd drawer. It features an engineered water flow running four meters per second to simulate a genuine river ride with 11 rafts that can accommodate eight passengers.

Mamon said the ride would be officially inaugurated on April 28 during the celebration of Enchanted Kingdom’s 6th anniversary.

Enchanted Kingdom is owned by C&H Holdings (25 percent); Armed Forces of Philippines Retirement and Separation Benefits System (26 percent), Nomura/Jafco Investment Asia Ltd. (16 percent); The Que-owned Q Capital (12 percent), Philippine National Bank (12 percent) and Amtrust Financial Consultants, an investment banking outfit.