Okada-Century deal finalized soon

MANILA, Philippines - Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada expects to finalize soon a deal with Century Properties Corp. and Filipino-owned company First Paramount Holdings 888 Inc., both firms are coming in as investors in the former’s $2 billion gaming project Manila Bay Resorts at Pagcor Entertainment City.

Under the memorandum of agreement earlier signed by the parties, the Antonio family’s Century Properties and First Paramount Holdings, headed by businesswoman Alice Eduardo, will own a combined 60 percent stake in Eagle Landholdings Inc., a Philippine affiliate of Tokyo-listed Universal Entertainment Corp.

Eagle owns the 44-hectare Manila Bay Resorts which will rise within the 100-hectare Las Vegas like multi-billion dollar gaming and entertainment complex in Manila.

Eduardo, president of First Paramount, said the company expects to wrap up talks with the Okada camp anytime soon. First Paramount will invest around $8 million for a 24 percent stake in the company that owns the land where the Japanese firm’s integrated resort is located. 

Century Properties, on the other hand, will take up 36 percent of Eagle as well as develop five hectares of land within the Manila Bay Resorts property into a cluster of high-end residential retail buildings covering more than 300,000 square meters of gross floor area upon completion.

Okada has long been looking for a Filipino partner to comply with Philippine law that sets the limit on foreign ownership of land at 40 percent. 

Eduardo is the president of Sta. Elena Construction & Development Corp., which is doing the structural and civil works for Okada’s integrated resort.

“I really believe in the project of Mr. Okada. They wanted me to be their partner because they need someone they can trust,” said Eduardo who has built a strong track record in construction of ports, harbors, roads, railways, airport horizontal structures, bridges, building and industrial plants.

Sta. Elena provided foundation forms for the SM Group’s Mall of Asia, Seaside City mall, Ecom-One, Ecom-Three, Shell Residences as well as state-of-the-art buildings Solaire Manila Resort Casino, Belle Grande Manila Bay(now known as City of Dreams Manila).  Its other projects include the Sta. Rita   Pantal bridge in Dagupan, Sta. Rita power plant in Batangas,  San Lorenzo power plant also in Batangas, San Vicente fish port terminal in Cagayan, GT Medical Center along Macapagal Avenue, and Sarrat bridge in Ilocos Norte, among others.

Asked if it would take part in the gaming component of the project, Eduardo said the family-owned First Paramount is open to it although Okada’s group has signified its intention to run the casino on its own and enter into partnerships with junket operators.

The casino project, targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2015, will feature 2,000 rooms, state-of-the-art gaming facilities, and an indoor man-made beach club covered in a huge glass dome.

 It will also feature a Las Vegas-style water fountain, high-end and casual dining restaurants, upscale retail shops, trade halls, cinemas and ample parking lots.

Century Properties and First Paramount held talks with Okada after failed negotiations between the Japanese tycoon and the Gokongwei’s Robinsons Land Corp. last May.

Okada is subject of separate probes by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Bureau of Investigation on allegations that bribes were paid to advance the Japanese firm’s casino venture in the Philippines.  He, however, has denied those allegations.