An ongoing legal dispute between Asian casino operator Donaco International Limited and its former Thai business partners will front a Singapore court in July 2019.
Donaco is seeking damages of US$190 million via arbitration proceedings after the Thai vendors continued to run gaming operations in defiance of non-compete provisions at Star Paradise, located adjacent to the company’s flagship Star Vegas resort in Poipet.
In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday, Donaco revealed that a nine-day hearing has now been scheduled to commence in Singapore on 29 July 2019. It also revealed that the Supreme Court of New South Wales has granted an extension until 4 October 2019 on a freezing order issued earlier this year, preventing the vendors from selling any of their 17.9% stake in the company.
The vendors, Lee Bug Leng, Lee Bug Huy and Lee Bug Tong, had previously been granted permission to host gaming facilities under the management of Donaco in a deal that saw the latter paid a monthly management fee of THB5 million (US$151,000), but that agreement expired in 2017 with no new management arrangements put in place.
After they continued to run gaming operations in defiance of non-compete provisions, the vendors – who also own the land upon which Star Vegas sits – threatened in June to terminate Donaco’s 50-year land lease.
Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey Court of First Instance subsequently granted an injunction of its own against the vendors preventing such termination pending further legal hearings.
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