MANILA -- Billionaire Andrew Tan's casino business, Travellers International, said Wednesday it was delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange in October to avoid "compromising" its strategy to the competition.

Travellers, which operates Resorts World Manila, said it would hold a tender offer for up to 1.58 billion shares. It voluntarily halted trading of its shares on Wednesday.

"The conversion from a public entity into a private company will allow the company to timely address evolving market demands and rapidly changing customer needs without compromising its business strategies to competition," Travellers told the stock exchange.

Travellers earlier reported a 52-percent drop in net income in the quarter ending June to P600.3 million, as gross expenses rose 89 percent to P7.37 billion during the same period.

After the tender offer is completed, non-public shareholders will hold at least 90 percent of the total listed and outstanding common shares, Travellers said in the disclosure.

Tan's holding firm, Alliance Global, said net income in the January to June period was flat at P12.5 billion as "cost pressures" to address competition shaved margins, according to his son and the conglomerate's CEO, Kevin Tan.

Apart from P85 billion in capital expenditures this year, Alliance Global earlier announced CAPEX of P410 billion from 2020 to 2024.

"Despite this, we remain confident that the collective growth strategies we have put in place – largely through product and market diversification, international pursuits for our spirits business and our ongoing expansion projects – are sound and will soon bear fruit,” he said.

Alliance Global includes property developer Megaworld Corp, liquor subsidiary Emperador Inc. and quick service restaurants unit under Golden Arches Development Corp, the exclusive franchise holder of the McDonald's brand in the country.