ASX-listed Donaco International Limited has been granted an extension to a freezing order issued by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, preventing its former Thai partners from selling their shares in the company pending the outcome of ongoing arbitration proceedings in Singapore.
The freezing order has been extended until 28 February 2020, with Donaco and the vendors awaiting a further one week oral evidentiary hearing in Singapore from 25 November 2019.
Donaco is seeking damages of US$190 million from the vendors – Somboon Sukcharoenkraisri and his two sons Lee Bug Huy and Lee Bug Tong – for continuing to run gaming operations in defiance of non-compete provisions at Star Paradise, which is located adjacent to Star Vegas in Poipet.
The vendors own 148 million shares in Donaco, representing approximately 17.9% of the company’s issued capital.
The Australian freezing order “restrains the defendants, by themselves and their servants and agents, from selling, disposing of or otherwise alienating their interest in the share capital of Donaco, until the final resolution and payment of any award of damages in the Singapore arbitration proceedings initiated by Donaco,” according to a previous company filing.
The two parties are also involved in legal proceedings in Cambodia, where Donaco is appealing an arbitration finding in August that the vendors were entitled to terminate a 50-year lease for the land on which Donaco’s Star Vegas casino in Poipet sits.