Dennis Uy’s PHR gets lifeline from EEI for stalled Cebu project

Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy’s PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. (PHR) has onboarded yet another company to complete its long-stalled Emerald Bay Resort and Casino project in Mactan, Cebu province.

In a stock exchange filing on Monday, PHR said its parent company, Udenna Corp., had signed a memorandum of understanding with Yuchengco-led EEI Corp. regarding the $300-million casino.

Under the MOU, EEI will “finance, construct and complete” once definitive agreements are executed, PHR said. It is still unclear what EEI will get in return.

This comes nearly half a year after Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., the operator of Okada Manila, backed out from the deal that would have finally nudged the Emerald project toward completion.

TRLEI was the third to drop the project after Cebu-based developer AppleOne Properties Inc. and tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Construction for the casino project began in 2017 and it has yet to be completed.