IGT has won a $5.3m tender to supply and service gaming equipment for a new hotel casino in the Philippine capital Manila. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

IGT wins Manila tender

International Game Technology (IGT) has won a $5.3m tender to supply and service gaming equipment for a new-build hotel casino owned by Macau-based LET Group Holdings Ltd in the Philippine capital Manila.

LET confirmed the IGT deal backdated to Friday

Formerly owned by imprisoned Macau gambling maven Alvin Chau, LET confirmed the IGT deal backdated to Friday for one of its sub-brands Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc.

IGT’s successful bid will see the Rhode Island-based firm outfit Suntrust’s Westside City Phase 1 hotel casino with its products ahead of the under-development project’s slated 2025 opening. 

Suntrust is to be the exclusive operator and manager of the Westside City hotel casino going up in the commercial gaming resort of Manila’s Entertainment City zone.

IGT nails the deal

According to GGRAsia, IGT secured the Manila deal via a combination of its aptitudes. An LET update cited IGT’s “vast experience” in the field, the “greatest functionality” of its products, and that its tender was the “second lowest” among four other bidders.

LET also referenced IGT’s pedigree of successful “multiple project implementations in Macau, Australia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.” The group, led by businessman Andrew Lo, also stated IGT’s experience in the latter country ensures its “equipment, software and services” will all comply with all government and regulatory requirements. 

will supply Suntrust with “equipment, software and services”

Under the deal, a Singapore-registered sub-brand of IGT will supply Suntrust with “equipment, software and services.” These provisions include a casino management system, user licenses for “mobile casino management system software; and speciality software.”

IGT will also provide table manager software, licenses for cashless gaming and tournament system software software, plus connection licenses for floor systems. The US global gambling technology company will also provide the Manila hotel casino with consulting services, “project management, installation, training and go-live support.”

Last week LET also gave an update on another of its sub-brands, Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, in which the former Chau parent has a 70% stake. Summit runs the Tigre de Cristal Resort & Casino in Russia’s Vladivostok and is beset with multiple issues. 

LET’s Russian woes continue

LET stated the Russia operation continues to “face significant challenges and uncertainties due to the ongoing and escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict, along with the associated sanctions levied against Russia.”

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on February 14 suspended trading on LET and Summit shares. The SFC also took that opportunity to warn it could delist the two firms over “serious concerns” about the management of both companies, including a breach of rules over a $116m sale of assets in Russia.

In a statement late last month, the SFC also announced it had initiated legal proceedings “to seek a share repurchase order” to protect the interests of LET and Summit’s independent minority shareholders.

The lawsuit was filed in Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance “as a result of alleged misconduct” of Lo, who is controlling shareholder, as well as CEO and Chairman of the two firms.