19 July 2010
By Kathryn O’Keeffe
HONG KONG (Dow Jones)–Media and entertainment company eSun Holdings Ltd. (0571.HK) said Monday its unit is considering whether to appeal a judgment by a Hong Kong court to strike out its US$2.39 billion claim against its joint-venture partners in the Macao Studio City casino project.
The company said its unit, East Asia Satellite Television (Holdings) Ltd., may also consider commencing lawsuits against New Cotai in other jurisdictions, such as Macau and the British Virgin Islands, where East Asia is incorporated, after “the (Hong Kong) High Court has ruled that it will not entertain such proceedings.”
Mr Justice Reyes ruled on Friday in the High Court that East Asia’s claims against New Cotai LLC, owned by U.S. investment firms Oaktree Capital Management LP and Silver Point Capital LP, and former Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) executive David Friedman, were “untenable.”
Justice Reyes said the claim against three New Cotai directors for inducing their own company to break the share-purchase agreement was “fanciful.”
However, the judge said there is “a good arguable case” regarding a separate US$88.6 million claim against Oaktree and Silver Point “for inducing New Cotai to breach” the share-purchase agreement.
eSun said Friday’s ruling dealt with procedural aspects of the case and “didn’t amount to a final determination of the substantive merits of any claims in the litigation.” As such, it said legal proceedings between East Asia and New Cotai are continuing.
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