Billionaire Enrique Razon’s Bloomberry Terminates Casino Deal With Tycoon Dennis Uy’s PH Resorts

Bloomberry Resorts—controlled by ports-to-energy billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.—said Wednesday it has terminated an agreement to invest in the casino resort projects of tycoon Dennis Uy’s PH Resorts Group almost a year after the deal was announced.

The decision was made after “considering the results of the due diligence on the target companies and the projects,” Bloomberry said in a regulatory filing. First announced in May 2022, the deal would have given Bloomberry stakes in PH Resorts’ casino resort projects in the former Clark Air Base in Pampanga, north of Manila, and in the central Philippine island of Cebu.

“While it is unfortunate that a deal was not closed, this now allows both parties to pursue their own plans,” Raymundo Martin Escalona, president of PH Resorts, said in a separate statement. “This development gives PH Resorts the opportunity to re-enter into discussions with other parties that were previously put in the back burner due to the contemplated investment by Bloomberry.” Share of PH Resorts tumbled 12.5% to 0.70 pesos in early morning trading in Manila, after touching a low of 0.66 pesos, the lowest on record.

PH Resorts controlling shareholder Uy—whose business interests span energy, shipping, real estate, telecommunications and gaming—has been selling off assets as the businessman and ally of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte grapples with mounting debts. Last August, Uy’s Udenna sold half its stake in the Malampaya gas field to Razon’s Prime Infrastructure Capital, while his logistics firm was acquired by the Sy family’s SM Investments in June 2021.

Bloomberry pulled out from the deal with PH Resorts as it prepares to open its second Philippine casino resort amid a post-pandemic recovery at its flagship Solaire Resort & Casino near the country’s main international airport. The new $1 billion property—which will have a hotel tower with up to 550 rooms and a gaming area with up to 200 gaming tables and as many as 3,000 slot machines—is slated to open in the first quarter of 2024 in the northern Metro Manila suburb of Quezon City.

The company, which also has a stake in the Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino in South Korea, plans to build another casino resort in Cavite, south of Manila, where it has already acquired beachfront properties.

Besides Bloomberry, Razon is also the controlling shareholder of global port giant International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) as well as privately held Prime Infrastructure Capital, which has been adding to its portfolio of water utilities, gas and renewable energy assets. He has a net worth of $7.2 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time data.