Bloomberry moves to stop share sale by former mgm’t firm

MANILA, Philippines - Razon-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is seeking a court order to prevent its former casino manager from selling $166 million worth of Bloomberry shares that are under arbitration proceedings.

The petition was filed before the Makati regional trial court “to prevent the sale and/or transfer of 921.18 million shares in Bloomberry which are owned by Global Gaming Philippines LLC (GGAM),” the company said.

The owner of the $1.2-billion Solaire Resort and Casino said the Bloomberry shares of GGAM are subject to a counterclaim given a material breach in contract.

Operating subsidiaries Sureste Properties Inc., Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. and Prime Metroline Holdings Inc. want to stop the transaction of GGAM, Deutsche Regis Partners Inc., the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. and John Does.

“And if the sale of the shares is completed, the petitioners will not be able to get back the shares and they will not be able to satisfy any judgment for damages that they may be able to obtain against GGAM in their ongoing arbitration proceedings on the termination of their management service agreement (MSA) because of GGAM’s uncured material breach of the MSA,” Bloomberry said.

In September, Bloomberry terminated the MSA with GGAM, just six months since the opening of the integrated casino. GGAM denied the breach in contract and sought for arbitration in Singapore.

On Wednesday, GGAM arranged for the sale of its 8.7-percent stake in Bloomberry to approximately 50 institutional investors for around $166 million.

GGAM is led by its three principals that each have decades of integrated tourism resort and gaming industry experience, a substantial portion of which was in senior management positions with Las Vegas Sands in the US and Macau.

In 2012, GGAM exercised its option to acquire an 8.7-percent stake in Bloomberry at a sharp discount, making it the second largest shareholder of Solaire.

In January to September, Bloomberry posted a net loss of P868.38 million, deeper than the P369.47-million loss a year ago as expenses surged to P9.56 billion from P533 million. In the third quarter, Bloomberry turned around to a P165-million net income compared with the P108.62-million loss in the previous year.

The $750-million Phase 1 of Solaire, which offers 500-rooms, 18,500 square meters of gaming space and 15 luxurious dining options, started commercial operations in March.

Bloomberry is spending $450 million for the Phase 1A expansion that would allow the company to open a 300-all-suite hotel, 3,900 parking slots, a shopping center with luxury brand stores and an entertainment theater this year.

The casino hotel is situated in the Entertainment City, a 120-hectare property reclaimed from Manila Bay and owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. The Entertainment City is the Philippines’ answer to Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau gaming hubs.