Century Properties secures new TRO on Okada deal

MANILA, Philippines - Century Properties Group Inc. secured another favorable court ruling preventing Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada from terminating their joint venture agreement.

“We have been notified by our legal counsel on Friday of an order dated April 23, extending the temporary order of protection for another 20 days, or until May 13,” Century Properties said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Early in April, the property firm secured a 20-day temporary restraining order preventing Okada’s group from ending a partnership agreement involving a luxury residential building in a $2-billion mega-casino project in Paranaque City.

Century Properties received last March a termination notice from Eagle I Landholdings Inc., Eagle II Holdco Inc. and Brontia Ltd.

The agreement entered into with the Okada group in October 2013 authorized Century Properties to develop five hectares of land within the 44-hectare site called Manila Bay Resorts.  Under the deal, Century Properties was supposed to acquire a 36 percent interest in Eagle 1, which owns the land where the integrated casino resort will rise.

Century Properties earlier said  it was ready to proceed with the deal as it already allotted $12 million for the development of the project.

Okada has long been in search for a local partner to comply with the land ownership requirement in the Philippines.  Negotiations with the Gokongwei family’s Robinsons Land Corp. for the joint development of the hotel and casino complex likewise fell through last year.

Okada is one of four licenses to operate a casino complex in the120-hectare Entertainment City, which is being groomed as the Philippines’ answer to gaming hubs in Singapore, Las Vegas and Macau.

Last year, port mogul Enrique Razon opened the $1.2-billion SolaireCasino & Resort while SM Group’s Belle Corp. and Macau casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. will start commercial operations of the $1.3-billion City of Dreams Manila this year.