Belle Corp pushes for privatization of gambling unit

The Philippine-listed Belle Corp has declared that it would carry out a tender offer for all of the outstanding common shares of Premium Leisure (PL) Corp, its gaming division.

The parent company filed a document on Monday stating that the goal is to request Premium Leisure’s “voluntary delisting” from the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

According to the filing, the action, which was approved by Belle’s board of directors on Monday, is contingent upon the value of Premium Leisure’s shares being assessed and the issuance of a fairness ruling by an impartial third party.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. is the operator of the casino resort in the Philippine capital known as City of Dreams Manila, where Premium Leisure is a stakeholder. Through one of its companies, Premium Leisure gets a share of the gaming revenue generated by City of Dreams Manila. Additionally, Premium Leisure uses Pacific Online Systems Corp. to run a lottery.

First Metro Investment Corp. has been appointed by Belle to carry out the value evaluation and provide a report on the fairness determination.

Following receipt and acceptance of the fairness opinion report by Belle’s board of directors, the tender offer price, schedule, and other conditions will be established.

The Philippine Stock Exchange reports that Premium Leisure has a public float of 20.1%, which is a little more than the mandated 20%.

Premium Leisure voluntarily requested that the trading of company shares be halted on Monday in order to provide fair access to and assessment of this information by the investing public.

In a separate filing, Premium Leisure said that subject to Belle’s successful tender offer and compliance with the exchange’s voluntary delisting requirements, its board of directors had approved the voluntary delisting of its shares from the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The year 2023 saw a 49.9% year-over-year increase in Belle Corp’s casino revenue from its gaming business at City of Dreams Manila, reaching over PHP2.34 billion (US$41.7 million).

Original story by: GGRAsia