The Philippines subsidiary of Asian casino investor Suncity Group Holdings Limited has reportedly sold off its remaining stake in the FOPM Group real estate business so as to better focus on a new gaming-friendly development it is helping to realize in Manila’s Entertainment City district.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Hong Kong-listed firm used an official Thursday filing to divulge that its SunTrust Home Developers Incorporated subordinate has disposed of the 24.27% interest it held in the company behind the First Oceanic Property Management Incorporated and CityLink enterprises for approximately $3.2 million. The source explained that this stake is now owned by the Asian E-Commerce Incorporated entity of which Philippines real estate enterprise Megaworld Corporation holds a 50% investment.

Complicated compact:

Suncity Group Holdings Limited is also the parent of Asian junket firm Suncity Group and reportedly purchased a majority stake in SunTrust Home Developers Incorporated two years ago as part of a complex arrangement that is to see it run the 1,959,031 sq ft casino within the coming Resorts World Westside City development. This $1 billion venue is purportedly being built by Megaworld Corporation and Travellers International Hotel Group Incorporated on a 297-acre plot of Entertainment City land and is expected to open moreover featuring a 400-room hotel alongside a 960-space parking garage and a 3,000-seat theater.

Extraneous expertise:

Detailing the reasons behind the transaction involving FOPM Group and Suncity Group Holdings Limited reportedly declared that the interests of the departing business were ‘entirely unrelated to the casino and entertainment market of the Philippines’ and that the sale will permit SunTrust Home Developers Incorporated to better focus on realizing the Resorts Westside City scheme.

Reportedly read the filing from Suncity Group Holdings Limited…

“The disposal allows the group to dispose of its non-core business to focus on and deploy its resources to its principal businesses. The group intends to apply the net sale proceeds from the disposal as general working capital and to partially finance the construction of the main hotel casino that is currently under development by SunTrust Home Developers Incorporated.”

Coming complex:

Inside Asian Gaming reported that Megaword Corporation holds a 34% stake in SunTrust Home Developers Incorporated, which is hoping to premiere the Resorts Westside City development sometime in 2023 containing a casino replete with a selection of approximately 1,200 slots as well as some 400 VIP and mass-market gaming tables.

Serendipitous success:

Suncity Group Holdings Limited is led by Macau businessman Alvin Chau Cheok Wa and recently disclosed that it expects to record a full-year profit in the region of $115.1 million despite experiencing a coronavirus-induced downturn in its VIP gaming business. The firm revealed that this success will come as a result of a number of factors including a gain on the value of its derivatives due to be worth something like $208.7 million in addition to an expected boost of at least $30.8 million in the valuation of its 69.7% stake in Summit Ascent Holdings Limited, which owns Russia’s Tigre de Cristal property.