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| City of Dreams |
Casino operator Melco Crown
(Philippines) Resorts Corp. has raised P5.48 billion from a top-up equity
placement, proceeds from which will boost capital outlays for the upcoming City
of Dreams Manila project. The equity deal was priced at P11.30 per share, a
discount to the closing price of P12.18 per share at the local stock exchange
on Tuesday. Melco went on a voluntary trading suspension on Wednesday as the
company pursued this equity deal with the help of the Hong Kong branches of
Deutsche Bank AG and UBS AG. Under the top-up scheme, the controlling
shareholders of Melco lent for sale 485.177 million secondary shares for a
quicker fund-raising exercise, but they will subsequently subscribe to the same
amount of primary shares. As such, proceeds will go to the company and the public
float will rise from about 23.62 percent to 31.17 percent after the
subscription.
“The transaction allows the
corporation to raise capital in a most expeditious and efficient manner with
the least cost in order to fund its capital expenditures for the completion
of City of Dreams Manila, the integrated hotel, gaming, retail and
entertainment resort project in the Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Entertainment City
complex,” Melco said in a disclosure on Thursday.
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Melco
intends to use the proceeds to fund the development of the City of Dreams
project, including payments for gaming equipment purchases, fit-out work and
other various initial operating costs, such as pre-opening expenses and working
capital, as well as for general corporate purposes. Upon approval of the PSE of
the application for a block sale, the shares will be crossed through the
facilities of the exchange.
On
Wednesday (June 18, 2014), Melco announced that its board had approved an increase in the total
budget for City of Dreams Manila to $832 million (P37 billion) from $680
million (P28 billion) alongside the top-up equity placement. City of Dreams
Manila, which will open by October this year, is the second integrated resort
to open at Pagcor Entertainment City which is being groomed as the country’s
version of the Las Vegas gaming strip.
A partnership between the Melco
group of Macau and the SM group’s Belle Corp., City of Dreams Manila will have
a casino, hotel, retail and entertainment areas in its integrated resort. It
will have six hotel towers, including the Crown Towers Hotel, Nobu Hotel and
Hyatt City of Dreams Manila, numerous specialty restaurants and bars, gaming
facilities, a multi-level car park, as well as three separate entertainment
venues.
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