Travelers International Hotel Group will spend US$600 million to expand its Philippine Casino in Manila in the next three years, saying the delay in its US$1 billion initial public offering will not slow down its plans. Travelers, a joint venture between casino operator Genting Hong Kong and Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group, said it could go to the debt market to seek funding while waiting for the right time to list its shares.

The company has deferred its listing to September or October from an original plan to launch the IPO this month due to market volatility. It is looking to use the proceeds to fund the expansion of its Resorts World Manila integrated tourism estate near terminal 3 of Manila’s international airport.

“We are not pressured, we will just wait for the right timing,” Travelers President Kingson Sian said regarding the IPO. “We can go to the debt market.” Mr Sian added the company was determined to finish the expansion project by 2016 despite the IPO delay.

The Philippines is Asia’s newest top-end gambling destination after Bloomberry Resorts Corp opened in March the first phase of its US$1.2-billion casino-hotel complex in Manila’s Entertainment City complex. The local unit of Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd is set to open by middle of next year its US$1 billion casino-hotel project also in the Entertainment City.

The story on the Philippine Casino was originally published on the Today Online website.