Tribunal order mum on Bloomberry stake ownership issue

An arbitration tribunal has revoked the attachment order on an 8.3-percent stake in Bloomberry Resorts Corp. claimed by Las Vegas-based Global Gaming Asset Management (GGAM) without ruling on the ownership of the disputed shares.

GGAM—an investor, developer and manager of casino resort properties—was engaged by Bloomberry for a five-year management contract, which is renewable by another five years. It was, however, later booted out of the management of Solaire Resort & Casino.

As the ruling suggested that GGAM could proceed with a plan to sell the 921.18 million common shares, Bloomberry’s share price fell by 9.79 percent to close at P11.06 per share Thursday.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Thursday, Bloomberry said the counsel for its units—Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. (BRHI) and Sureste Properties Inc. (SPI)—had received the order of the arbitration tribunal on the issue involving the injunction and attachment on the 921.18 million shares held by GGAM.

Based on the disclosure, the tribunal ordered a status quo and revoked the injunction and attachment orders of a local regional trial court, allowing GGAM to freely deal with or even sell the shares.

However, the same tribunal denied the request of GGAM to be declared the full legal and beneficial owner of the shares, free of any claims, liens or encumbrances by BRHI, SPI and Enrique Razon-led Prime Metroline Holdings Inc. (PMHI), Bloomberry’s controlling stockholder.

The order also denied the request of GGAM to order BRHI, SPI and PMHI to disclose to the Philippine Stock Exchange that GGAM was the legal and beneficial owner of the shares.

Likewise denied was GGAM’s request to enjoin BRHI, SPI and PMHI and their affiliates “from taking any actions that would interfere with or prevent any sale of the shares.”

“The tribunal emphasized that it makes no declaration as to ownership of the shares,” according to the disclosure.