Southeast Asian casino operator Silver Heritage Group says it has not been served with any official documents relating to reports that a Nepalese court had issued a temporary order against the sale or further development of Tiger Palace Resort.
According to the Kathmandu Post, the Rupandehi District Court issued the order on Friday against Silver Heritage’s local subsidiaries, Tiger One and Silver Heritage Investment, in response to a writ from the chairman of a local water use group. The writ alleges Tiger Palace Resort, located around eight kilometers from the Nepal-India border in Bhairahawa, has encroached on four plots of land belonging to a public canal and another belonging to the government.
Responding to inquiries from Inside Asian Gaming, Silver Heritage denied any knowledge of an official court order.
“The Company or its subsidiaries have not been formally served with any court documents or evidence in relation to the proceedings, however the Company understands that a local water consumer committee alleges that there has been construction upon a small area of land located in and around Tiger Palace Resort which is owned by the Government of Nepal and managed by the Committee under Nepal’s laws relating to canals and irrigation,” it said.
“The Company intends to defend these proceedings and shall keep the market informed of any developments in line with its continuous disclosure obligations.”
Notably, the writ comes just a few weeks after Silver Heritage appointed Union Gaming to seek out parties interested in the potential acquisition of Tiger Palace Resort after the company was forced to offload its other key asset, Vietnam’s Phoenix International Club, in late February.