Saturday, November 22, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Likha Cuevas-Miel, Reporter
Waterfront Philippines Inc. (WPI) may still qualify to bid for the Mimosa Leisure Estate, despite losing the right to run it the first time around, if the government decides to sell the property again.
A Clark Development Corp. (CDC) source told The Manila Times on Friday that it is seeking the opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel on the “next expeditious step” to sell Mimosa. CDC has to dispose the property in the next three months “in accordance with government bidding rules,” the source added.
One of the possible scenarios is that the government may have to put Mimosa on sale again. The source said there is nothing on the rules that will prevent WPI from joining the auction again for the 188-hectare recreational and residential development formerly owned by the Mondragon Group.
Last month, Waterfront received a letter from CDC saying that it decided to cancel the bidding process for Mimosa because of a “supervening event that materially affected the terms of the project.” According to the firm, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has set a condition that requires the winning bidder to settle first the arrearages of the old Mimosa owners before securing a license from them. Without the license, CDC could not hand over the right to operate Mimosa for 25 years to Waterfront.
“We were not expecting this kind of terms from Pagcor. That’s why we are seeking OGCC opinion on how to go about it. That is why [if there is] the next bidding, we asked Pagcor ‘please make the terms very clear’, these supervening conditions,” the source said.
On Thursday, Kenneth Gat-chalian, Waterfront president, told reporters the company is still interested in buying Mimosa.
In a related development, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that its has signed a settlement agreement with Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank for the hotel group’s P740-million debt. This compromise agreement involves the restructuring of Waterfront’s obligations, which may lead to the postponement of the auction of the group’s two Cebu Waterfront hotels.
The Manila Times tried but failed to get Waterfront’s side on the matter.
