Philippine property developer Century Properties Group scored a huge legal win over Universal Entertainment boss Kazuo Okada’s Philippine subsidiaries. Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 66 ruled in favor of the developer as it looked to prevent Okada’s group from terminating its real estate partnership with CPG.
The Makati RTC posted an order July 25, granting Century Properties’ application for a preliminary prohibitory injunction against the Okada group. The order prohibited the Okada Group from terminating agreements to develop luxury residential and retail properties on a five-hectare site within the Manila Bay Resorts complex at Entertainment City.
The Okada group, which includes Philippine subsidiaries Eagle 1 Holdings Inc., Eagle II Holdco Inc. and Brontia Limited, made the surprising decision to drop its partnership with Century Properties in March. The group cited the withdrawal of one of its partners, First Paramount Holdings 888, as effective grounds to pull the entire deal, which also included Century Properties, off the table.
Before withdrawing from negotiations, First Paramount was supposed to acquire 24 percent of Eagle 1 with Century Properties taking 36 percent of the company. That move didn’t sit well with Century Properties. The company argued that even with the withdrawal of First Paramount, provisions under the investment agreement between the parties involved provided alternative measures to exhaust all reasonable means for the said agreement to come to a close.
Century then responded by bringing the matter before the Philippine courts in hopes of preventing the Okada group from moving forward. The Makati RTC initially denied Century’s request in May but since reversed its ruling, much to the relief of CPG and the chagrin of the Okada group.
In addition to putting a legal handcuff on the Okada group, the Makati RTC’s latest ruling prevents them from dealing with any party with respect to any sale, disposition or original issuance of any class of the shares of stock of Eagle I. This will prohibit them from dealing with any other party for the development of the commercial/residential land and the commercial/residential project itself as contained in said agreements.
It’s still unclear how this latest ruling will affect the scheduled opening of Manila Bay Resorts. Okada has indicated that it was on pace to open by the late next year; although with this ruling, it could be reasonable to expect the resort and casino’s completion to move to a later date.
