Travellers shelves P36.8-B IPO

MANILA, Philippines - The Filipino-Malaysian joint venture behind Resorts World Manila has postponed its planned P36.8-billion public share sale amid volatile market conditions.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. was pushed back to September or October, according to International Financing Review (IFR), a publication of Thomson Reuters.

Despite the completion of a pre-marketing program, the Travellers Group decided not to start the bookbuilding process due to the gloomy stock market environment, IFR said.

In the original schedule, bookbuilding was set late in June, which will allow the company to sell shares and go public in July, IFR added.

After hitting its 31st all-time high this year at 7,392.20 on May 15, the PSEi has since dropped – 21.68 percent to 5,789.06 on Tuesday, ushering in the entry of the local bourse to the bear market phase. The bellwether index, however, recovered sharply to close at 6,118.94 yesterday.

Proceeds from the IPO would bankroll the construction of the $1.1-billion Resorts World Bayshore integrated casino and hotel development along Manila Bay.

In May, Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) of property tycoon Andrew Tan said Travellers Group has filed a registration statement with the Philippine Stock Exchange for a potential IPO.

Travellers Group, which operates the eight-hectare Resorts World Manila hotel and casino complex, is a joint venture between Malaysia’s Genting Bhd. and AGI.

IFR earlier reported that Travellers Group tapped Bank of America Merrill Lynch, CIMB, Maybank, Religare Capital Markets and UBS to facilitate the IPO.

Travellers will start the building the $1.1-billion Resorts World Bayshore at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Entertainment City this year, with commercial operations scheduled in 2016.

The casino complex is situated in Entertainment City, a 120-hectare property reclaimed from Manila Bay and is the Philippines’ answer to the Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau gaming hubs.