Mondragon gives 6-month deadline for Mimosa talks

Mondragon Leisure and Resorts Corp. (MLRC) is giving itself a six-month period or until September this year to finalize talks with government and potential investors in the plush Mimosa Leisure Estate at the Clark Special Economic zone for approval by their stockholders.

In a letter to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Antonio Jose Gonzalez, chairman and CEO of MLRC’s parent firm Mondragon International Philippines Inc. (MIPI), said they have postponed the annual stockholders meeting originally scheduled yesterday, for another six months, or on Sept. 15, 2003.

He said the meeting was rescheduled "to allow the company enough time to pursue negotiations with concerned government entities as well as with investors who will provide additional funds."

Gonzalez added the fresh capital infusion, if secured, would be used to settle MLRC’s obligations to the government and normalize operations within the Mimosa Leisure Estate, its main asset.

MLRC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the publicly-listed MIPI, is into leisure and gaming, operating the Mimosa Leisure Estate which features, among others, a 36-hole championship golf course, a 304-room five-star hotel, various deluxe furnished villas, and a gaming casino.

Since December 1999, however, the government, through Clark Development Corp. (CDC), has taken over the management and operations of the said property after securing a favorable court over its dispute with MLRC’s non-payment of tax and rental fees worth about P325 million, as well as reported violations of several terms and conditions of the lease contract.

Although MLRC has filed a countersuit still pending with the courts, it has been in active negotiations with CDC for the resolution of the rental issues, a principal component of which is the entry of new investors to bring in fresh equity into MLRC to settle its obligations with the government and restructure its P7-billion debts owed to a consortium of bank creditors.

Gonzalez, however, did not identify which investor group the Mondragon camp has been holding talks with.