Belle completes stock rights offer

MANILA, Philippines - High-end leisure developer and gaming firm Belle Corp. successfully completed its stock rights offering, raising around P4.5 billion.

Belle vice-chair Willy N. Ocier said the offering of 1.508 billion shares at P3 apiece, was oversubscribed. The offer price represented a 10 percent discount to Belle’s closing price of P3.35 each share Friday.

The shares will be listed in Oct. 10.

Net proceeds from the offering will be used to partially fund the construction of Belle Grande Manila Bay, a $750-million integrated gaming resort complex along Roxas Boulevard.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was the underwriter for the rights offering while Deutsche Bank AG, has been tapped as international financial advisor.

Slated for soft opening in the second half of 2012, Belle Grande Manila Bay will have a total gaming area of 19,626 square meters, offering 350 gaming tables and 1,900 slot machines.

The hotel component will comprise of six towers with approximately 1,000 rooms, of which 86 will be luxury suites, scheduled for opening by the fourth quarter of 2013.

One of the towers will be an all-suites hotel aimed at the VIP market and junket gaming customers, while another will be a four or five-star hotel targeted at the mass market gaming customers with 159 rooms.

The remaining four towers will comprise condotel towers with a total of 466 units, which can be sold to investors and placed in a pool to be managed by the company/hotel operator. Buyers can avail of eight-10 free nights at the resort in addition to a share of the rentals received.