Macau’s The 13 Hotel operator loses legal battle over loan
The Court of Final Appeal has ruled against an attempt to void a US$370m bank loan.
Macau.- South Shore Holdings, the company behind Macau’s The 13 Hotel, has failed in its legal bid to nullify a MOP3bn (US$370m) bank loan.
According to a statement from the Court of Final Instance, two directors at South Shore Holdings secured the loan by granting certain rights to a local bank through an authorisation letter. Their subsequent attempt to file for bankruptcy in June 2021 was denied. The directors tried to revoke the authorisation letter despite the bank’s opposition. In response, the bank appointed a new director in September 2021.
In April 2022, the dispute escalated to the Court of First Instance, which ruled in favour of the bank. This decision was then upheld by the Court of Second Instance. Now, the Court of Final Appeal has ruled that the two appellants failed to obtain consent from the bank.
The company was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in February of this year due to its failure to resume share trading. In January, Peter Coker Jr., a former executive director and chairman of South Shore Holdings, was arrested in a hotel room in a joint operation between Thai police and the FBI after US authorities issued an arrest warrant. He was accused of hiring stock traders to manipulate the company’s stock price.
