Robinsons Land seals deal with Okada

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property development arm of Gokongwei flagship firm JG Summit Holdings Inc., has sealed a deal with Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada to jointly develop a $2-billion hotel and casino complex in the 100-hectare Entertainment City along Roxas Blvd.

Okada’s Tiger Resorts & Leisure Corp. is one of four groups that were granted a license by the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to operate a casino on a reclaimed land along Manila Bay which the government expects to turn into the world’s number two gaming destination ahead of Singapore and Las Vegas and behind only Macau.

Informed sources said RLC and Okada have  reached an agreement to form a partnership to develop the gaming complex. Under the agreement, RLC will take a 60-percent stake in the land company to comply with the country’s 40-percent foreign ownership limit. 

RLC is also seen to acquire a significant minority stake in an operating company that will manage the casino, hotel, retail and entertainment components of the project.

Pagcor has yet to issue a permanent license to Okada which will allow him to commence operations when his casino complex is completed by 2015.  It withheld the issuance of a permanent license until Tiger Resorts has met the constitutional provision limiting foreign ownership of Philippine companies to 40 percent.

Tiger Resorts is the local unit of Okada’s Japan-based gaming device maker Universal Entertainment Corp.

According to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), Okada and his foreign companies hold as much as 64 percent of the company that was awarded a provisional gaming license.

In July, Okada took in Empire East Land & Holdings Inc. of property tycoon Andrew Tan as partner to take charge of the residential component of the planned integrated resort. Empire East will build  a P45-billion upscale residential condominium complex, comprising more than 25 residential towers,  marking its first foray into the high-end property market.

The joint venture is expected to provide RLC another source of revenue.

Sister firm Cebu Pacific, the country’s largest budget carrier, is also expected to benefit from the partnership between Okada and RLC.

Okada, also known as the pachinko king of Japan, broke ground on his casino in Entertainment City on Jan. 26, promising more than 2,000 guest rooms in three hotels

In a visit to Manila in May, he predicted that the center of gravity of the global gaming industry would shift from Las Vegas to Asia, with the Philippines playing a significant part in attracting patrons from around the world.