Bloomberry stock tumbles as former partner given go ahead to sell stake

Thursday 11th of December 2014

Shares in Bloomberry Resorts fell sharply in Thursday trading after an arbitration tribunal in Singapore ruled that a former business partner was able to sell shares in the operator of the Solaire Resort & Casino.

Global Gaming Asset Management, which had originally been hired to manage the Solaire property, holds 921,184,056 Bloomberry shares.

The company said in a Philippine Stock Exchange filing that the tribunal had “ordered the status quo ante as of January 15, 2014 and revoked the injunction and attachment orders of the Regional Trial Court and allows GGAM to freely deal with, including sell, the shares.”

However, the tribunal failed to allow GGAM’s request that it be declared the full legal owner of the stock, “free of any claims, liens or encumbrances” by Bloomberry units Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels (BRHI), Sureste Properties (SPI), or from shareholder Prime Metroline Holdings (PMHI).

The ruling also denied GGAM’s request to enjoin the other parties from taking any action that would interfere or prevent the sale of the stock. However, the tribunal emphasized that it was not making any declaration as to the ownership of the stock.

Bloomberry ended its contract with GGAM in September 2013, just months after the Solaire casino became the first integrated resort to open in Manila’s Entertainment City hub. The company said the manager had not spent "material time" in attending to the management of Solaire. It also accused GGAM of failing to perform its obligations and deliverables under the management services agreement.

Subsequent to the ending of the contract GGAM sought to sell the entire 8.7 percent stake, though Bloomberry managed to get a temporary restraining order blocking the sale in January.

Bloomberry shares tumbled as much as 8 percent in Thursday trading.