Belle Corp. eyes second casino

Monday 24th of April 2017

Philippines casino investor, Belle Corporation is looking at a second site to expand its casino venture, local media reports.

On the sidelines of the company’s stockholders’ meeting, Belle vice-chairman Willy Ocier said the group was looking at expanding its current casino resort in Entertainment City by buying land adjacent or close to it.

“We are looking for neighbouring site or land contiguous with COD. We are open also [to] joint venture partnership,” Ocier said.

The vice chairman said the group is initially considering developing Belle’s existing 8,500 square meter property near City of Dreams as an option.

In an interview with Rappler, Ocier added that the company is also looking at opening a second casino outside of Metro Manila, or outside the capital.

The vice-chairman said the group will apply to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) for its second gaming license once it has identified the site for its planned casino.

“We have applied for a second site in line with the fact that our other licensee partners have second sites. We are applying based on the policy of level playing field,” Mr. Ocier said.

“They (PAGCOR) said they will consider but they didn’t commit...PAGCOR is open to other areas outside Metro Manila especially when it is tourism related,” Mr. Ocier said.

In 2016, City of Dreams recorded GGR of P25 billion (US$501.8 million). Bloomberry Resorts Corp. brought in P38.5 billion.

"City of Dreams is growing significantly and there is a good chance it will become no. 1 in gross gaming revenue (GGR) this year among integrated resorts," noted Belle president and chief executive officer Manuel Gana.

Bricks & Mortar License Expansion Apply