Court grants Bloomberry petition

GAMING firm Bloomberry Resorts Corp. has obtained a court order to protect the shares of the company that Las Vegas-based Global Gaming Philippines LLC (GGAM) had wanted to unload, pending the results of an arbitration case on their management contract dispute.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Bloomberry said the Makati Regional Trial Court had granted its application for interim measures of protection in view of an earlier attempt by GGAM—the firm earlier booted by Bloomberry out of the management of Solaire Resort & Casino—to unload 921.184 million shares in the local gaming firm.

Citing an order dated Feb. 25, Bloomberry said the Makati RTC had issued a writ of preliminary attachment covering 921.184 million Bloomberry shares or the proceeds from thereof if the sale was completed prior to this order.

GGAM and its agents as well as the PSE, as the operator of the local stock exchange, were prevented by this order from disposing of or facilitating the transfer of the disputed shares.

The attachment was issued “in order to preserve the shares and to serve as security for the judgment that the arbitral tribunal may award in favor of the petitioners,” the Bloomberry disclosure said.

Attachment refers to the legal process of seizing an asset or property to ensure satisfaction of a judgment. The writ of attachment is the document by which a court orders such a seizure.

GGAM earlier moved to sell these Bloomberry shares to 50 institutional investors at a discounted price of P8.05 per share, prompting the latter to seek this temporary protection order.

Bloomberry terminated its management services agreement with GGAM for Solaire last year, claiming the latter's breach of their agreement.