Pagcor to sell Solaire casino land

Pagcor is attempting for the third time to sell two parcels of land where Solaire Resort and Casino is located.

Philippines.- After two failed auction attempts, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) is free to hold direct negotiations to sell two parcels of land where the Solaire Resort and Casino is located.

After failing to draw interest following the launch of an auction for the land in November, Pagcor tried again with a new auction last January. Back then, only Sureste Properties Inc (a subsidiary of Bloomberry Resorts Corp) submitted a bid, but under the casino operator and regulator’s public bidding rules, a sale cannot be executed unless there are two or more qualified bids.

After failing to sell the land through auctions, Pagcor will try to negotiate directly with buyers, including Bloomberry, which owns Solaire. “They [Pagcor] didn’t even have to open the bid,” an industry source told GGRAsia and said: “Pagcor is now free to negotiate with interested parties that want to purchase the land.”

According to Morgan Stanley, a potential acquisition would benefit Bloomberry as it would own its own land and would “put Bloomberry’s valuation comparable to peers who own their land”.