SG court upholds arbitration ruling, favoring ex Solaire manager

Tuesday 7th of January 2020

The Singaporean High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Bloomberry Resorts against Global Gaming Philippines, which accused the company of committing fraud and misrepresentation leading to its termination as the management firm for Solaire in 2013.

The latest court decision upholds a ruling from the arbitration tribunal in Singapore in 2016, which ruled that the termination of GGAM’s management services contract for Solaire was unlawful.

At the time, Bloomberry alleged that there were concealment and misrepresentations in light of investigations into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act which involved two out of four of GGAM’s executives during their time at Las Vegas Sands.

However, in a recent disclosure to the stock exchange, Bloomberry said the court found that the findings presented to the court “do not constitute strong and cogent evidence of any species of fraud.”

Ahead of the latest decision, the tribunal issued its final award dated Sep 27, 2019 in favor of GGAM - ordering the respondents to pay $86.2 million in damages for lost management fees, $391,224 as pre-termination fees and expenses, and P10.2 billion for the 921.2 million GGAM shares in Bloomberry Resorts Corp in exchange for the claimants turning over the shares after the payment. The final award also provided for the respondents to pay the claimant’s costs of $15.0 million.

The respondents have been informed they have until Feb 3, 2020, to appeal the decision to a higher court in Singapore.