Bloomberry Resorts Reportedly Explores Jeju Casino Sale Options

Bloomberry Resorts Corp, the leading integrated resorts operator in the Philippines, may be looking to offload its South Korean casino asset, Jeju Sun, a new report suggests. The potential divestment comes less than a decade after the company attempted to sell its resort back in 2016. At the time, the sale of Jeju Casino did not go through so this may be Bloomberry’s latest effort to offload the asset.

The pandemic impacted the operations of the South Korean casino which has been recovering ever since. Traveling gradually has been returning to pre-pandemic levels in the past few years, which impacted the performance of Jeju Casino positively. For example, the casino’s gross gaming revenue increased by threefold to PHP 14.7 million ($261,900) for the third quarter. Despite the increase, the resort’s gross gaming revenue represented a tiny fraction when compared to the PHP 13.3 billion ($236.8 million) in revenue reported by Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila, the Philippines.

Divesting the Asset Is Sensible Decision

Juan Paolo Colet, the managing director at China Bank Capital Corp, a leading investment bank, who was recently cited by Philippine Daily Inquirer, commented on the topic. He revealed that Jeju Casino has been generating losses for Bloomberry. This is why, according to Colet, it makes sense for the company to consider offloading the South Korean casino asset. Finally, Colet said: “At this time, Bloomberry is more focused on domestic growth, but I will not be surprised if they eventually reinvigorate their international strategy.”

“The Korea operations have been a losing proposition for Bloomberry, so it makes sense for them to divest from that market.“

Juan Paolo Colet, managing director China Bank Capital Corp

Divestment of strategic assets isn’t a new occurrence in the gambling vertical. Hospitality and gaming operators across the globe consider offloading certain assets or in some cases engaging in multi-million and even multi-billion mergers and acquisitions. Such deals help gaming and entertainment operators focus on specific targets or offload assets that are not generating enough proceeds.