The Singapore High Court has dismissed a petition Bloomberry Resorts Corp subsidiaries Sureste Properties Inc. (SPI) and Bloomberry Resorts & Hotels Inc. (BRHI) to set aside and resist enforcement of the Final Award of the Arbitration Tribunal, related to the 2013 termination of a Management Services Agreement with Global Gaming Asset Management (GGAM) Philippines LLC.
The petition had sought to set aside a decision by a Singapore arbitration tribunal in September 2019 awarding GGAM – the local unit of William Weiner’s Las Vegas-based casino investment firm – US$296 million for wrongful termination of the agreement, which had seen GGAM paid US$175,000 per month for the provision of technical services related to the design, planning, layout and construction of Philippines integrated resort Solaire in 2011. The agreement was terminated just six months after Solaire opened in 2013, with Bloomberry alleging GGAM Philippines had failed to deliver on the terms of the agreement and more specifically a promise to bring high-rollers to the property. It also cited concerns over the casino’s design and layout.
The Singapore courts not only found the termination wrongful but also affirmed GGAM’s ownership of and right to sell 921,184,056 shares it held in Bloomberry.
According to a filing by Bloomberry on Monday, the Singapore High Court ruled that a “Constructive Remedy” by which SPI and BRHI either pay GGAM to reacquire the shares or assist it in selling the shares was “not outside the scope of the parties’ arbitration agreement” and that the awarding of damages is not contrary to Singapore public policy.
Bloomberry has until 29 June to appeal to the Singapore Court of Appeal, which it says would focus on flaws in the decision.
“Counsel for SPI and BRHI has advised that the arbitration award is not self-executing and must be confirmed by a domestic court for it to have the legal effect of a judgment,” it said. “Counsel for SPI and BRHI has advised that, as a matter of Philippine law, both the Partial Award and the Final Award of the Arbitration Tribunal may be enforced in the Philippines only through an order of a Philippine court of proper jurisdiction and after appropriate proceedings taking into account applicable Philippine law and public policy.”
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