Singapore’s Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal from subsidiaries of Solaire operator Bloomberry Resorts, against a USD$296.6m damages payment the operator was ordered to pay to management business Global Gaming Asset Management.
The appeal in question stems from a 2019 ruling from the Singapore High Court. This court determined that Bloomberry illegally terminated the contract for GGAM to manage the Solaire Resort and Casino in the Philippines.
GGAM – a joint venture that manages casino resorts, set up between private equity business Cantor Fitzgerald and various former Las Vegas Sands executives – had agreed to provide “substantial assistance” in developing the Solaire.
Under the terms of the agreement, GGAM would have a right to purchase 10% of equity in Solaire, and could earn a similar deal in any future Bloomberry casino projects.
However, over six months after the casino opened, GGAM says the deal was terminated with fees withheld.
As a result, the court ordered that Bloomberry pay USD$296.6m – the value of 921.2 million Bloomberry Resorts shares – in damages to GGAM.
GGAM filed a petition to set the payment aside, which was denied, prompting an appeal in the Singapore Court of Appeals. This week, the appeal has now also been denied.
While this occurred, GGAM launched a new lawsuit in New York, in an attempt to make Bloomberry owner Enrique Razon – who owns property in the US state – personally liable for the cost of damages in order to expedite payment.
This New York lawsuit revealed further details about the interactions between Razon and GGAM, including a claim that Razon leveraged an “undisclosed financial relationship” with an ex-Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president to help deny the casino management business a chance to exercise the option to sell its stake.
Bloomberry said that GGAM may still file another suit in order to enforce the payment in the Philippines, where Bloomberry’s business and assets are located. If so, Bloomberry says it will fight any such enforcement “based on applicable Philippine law”.
