Bloomberry scraps plan to sell casino in Jeju Island

Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is no longer selling its casino property in South Korea, as the asset has turned around and is now contributing to the company's top line.

On the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) on Monday, Bloomberry chairman Enrique Razon Jr. said it will no longer sell its stake in Golden & Luxury Co. Ltd. in Jeju Island.

"Hindi namin ibebenta. Nag-improve na, we're breaking even," he told reporters in Parañaque City.

In June 2016, Bloomberry's wholly-owned subsidiary Solaire Korea Co. Ltd. entered into an agreement to sell its 96.23-percent stake in Golden & Luxury—the operator of Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino—to Lao Kun Group Holding Company Limited for around P4.7 billion.

In November 2016, however, the Lao Kun Group backed out of the deal. Razon said back then that "I think they ran out of money."

Jeju Sun is five minutes away from Jeju International Airport and has 208 hotel rooms and suites, 2,125 square meters of gaming space, and other hotel facilities.

Prior to its rebranding to Golden Sun, it was called T.H.E Hotel & Vegas Casino, one of the seven casinos in Jeju Island, a popular destination for Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese tourists.

Bloomberry is the owner and operator of Solaire Resort and Casino. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News