Supplier News

Philippines – Bloomsberry hires Arasi

Philippines operator, Bloomberry Resorts, has hired the former president and chief executive of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, Thomas Arasi, to run its $1.2bn Solaire Resort and Casino. Bloomberry’s announcement comes after it ended a contract with another high-profile group of former Las Vegas Sands Corp. executives to manage the Solaire, triggering a legal dispute.

Mr. Arasi will lead the efforts to ensure Solaire ramps up operations and profitability as well as oversee the $500m expansion phase of Solaire that is scheduled to open in the last quarter of 2014.

Bloomberry’s Chairman Enrique Razon said Mr. Arasi was appointed President and COO of the listed Philippine casino operator. “We believe his credentials and experience will be key to achieve our expectations for Solaire,” he added. Mr. Arasi has also held senior executive posts with the InterContinental Hotels Group and Tishman Hotel Corp. Bloomberry said Mr. Arasi was “instrumental in helping Marina Bay Sands achieve unprecedented profitability of circa $1.5bn in annual run-rate EBITDA.”

Last month, Bloomberry terminated the services of Global Gaming Asset Management (GGAM) for alleged breach of contract, in part by not spending “any material time in attending to the management of Solaire.” GGAM denied Bloomberry’s claim and plans to take the issue to arbitration in Singapore.

Solaire opened in March and is part of the Philippines’ bid to become Asia’s third gambling hub, after Macau and Singapore. It is the first casino venture of Mr. Razon, an international ports mogul.