Century Properties bucks Okada’s termination of pact

Property developer Century Properties Group has challenged Japanese gaming magnate Kazuo Okada’s (in photo) termination of an agreement for the former to be a real estate partner in the “Manila Bay Resorts” entertainment complex. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Property developer Century Properties Group has challenged Japanese gaming magnate Kazuo Okada’s termination of an agreement for the former to be a real estate partner in the “Manila Bay Resorts” entertainment complex.

In a press statement, CPG said Monday it had sent a supplemental notice of dispute to Eagle 1 Landholdings Inc., Eagle II Holdco Inc. and Brontia Ltd.—collectively, the Okada Group— saying that the basis for the notice of termination was “unfounded” and was in violation of the investment agreement that both parties signed last year.

CPG said the withdrawal of First Paramount Holdings 888—one of three parties to the agreement—should not have rendered the deal ineffective, noting that the provisions of the investment agreement “provided alternative measures to exhaust all reasonable means for the said agreement to come to a close.”

Such measures include negotiating an alternative structure that will preserve the commercial terms of the agreement and replacing First Paramount with another qualified Filipino company to ensure the subscription of the preferred shares, the Antonio-led property developer said.

The deal would have made CPG a part owner of Eagle 1, the holding firm that owns the 44-hectare estate within Pagcor Entertainment City where Okada’s gaming complex will rise. At the same time, CPG had signed up to build luxury residential and retail properties with over 300,000 square meters of gross floor area in a five-hectare site within the complex.

But First Paramount backed out of the deal to acquire 24 percent of Eagle 1.

CPG alleged that despite its good faith efforts to bring its investment transaction to closing, the Okada group had “frustrated closing” and did not cooperate with the process with respect to providing CPG its due diligence materials.