Chinese developer eyes theme park development in Philippines

Chinese property developer Landing International Development has sets its sights on the Philippines for its next theme park project even as it plans a share placement to fund completion of its US$3 billion Jeju Shinhwa World resort in South Korea.

The company also agreed to sell its London casino, Les Ambassadeurs Club, to Paul Suen Cho Hung, Hong Kong’s “king of penny stocks”, for HK$2.5 billion to “focus resources on developing Southeast Asian emerging markets”, it said in a statement on September 7.

Landing bought the club for about HK$1.48 billion in April 2016.

Landing chairman Yang Zhihui met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his cabinet members in Manila on Monday to “present the company’s proposal to build a world-class international branded theme park integrated resort in the Philippines”, the company said in a statement.

Duterte welcomed its proposed investment into the Philippines and expressed his keen interest and support for the proposal, the company said.

Shares of Hong Kong listed Landing jumped 4 per cent in Wednesday morning trading after it announced details of the chairman’s meeting with Duterte.

The proposed resort would be Asia’s first movie-themed indoor amusement park, and would include a water park as well as other leisure and entertainment facilities suitable for all ages, according to the company.

The project “will enhance the Philippines’ tourism appeal, complement existing tourist attractions and resorts as well as create significant employment opportunities for locals as well as returning Filipinos who are currently working overseas”, said Yang, who added that the proposed theme park would be something “all Filipinos will be proud of”.

Starting out with residential developments in its home province of Anhui, China, over the past few years Landing shifted its focus to building and operating leisure and entertainment resorts and casinos.

The company also owns and operates Landing Casino in Jeju.

In June, the company withdrew from a potential acquisition of a gaming company in the Philippines after it sought legal advice on its foreign investment.

The developer achieved a turnaround in the first-half to post a net profit of HK$44 million on increased property sales, while its cash on hand declined to HK$1.37 billion from HK$6.77 billion at the end of 2016 due to major construction project payments during the period.

Last week the company announced plans to raise HK$1.8 billion from a share placement to finance the completion of Jeju Shinhwa World.