Court hearing over LVS Macau licence adjourned

Sep 12, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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The first hearing of a case brought against Las Vegas Sands Corp over its Macau gaming licence, which was due to start this week at Macau’s Court of First Instance, has been adjourned, GGRAsia has learnt. The court is yet to set a new date for the hearing.

The lawsuit was filed by a former Macau business partner of Las Vegas Sands, Asian American Entertainment Corp (AAEC), a company led by Taiwan entrepreneur Marshall Hao Shi-sheng. The businessman is claiming compensation for damages resulting from the alleged breach of agreements during Las Vegas Sands’ successful bid in 2002 for a casino licence in Macau. The company operates in Macau via its unit Sands China Ltd.

The lawsuit was originally filed in January 2012, but on July 15, 2019, AAEC requested the court to increase the amount of its claim to nearly US$12 billion, allegedly representing lost profits for the period 2004 to 2018, according to Sands China’s interim report filed in August. AAEC also reserved its right to claim for lost profits up to 2022, when Sands China’s Macau casino licence expires.

AAEC is suing Macau-based Venetian Macau Ltd, and three United States-based subsidiaries of Las Vegas Sands: LVS (Nevada) International Holdings Inc, Las Vegas Sands LLC and Venetian Casino Resort LLC.

AAEC had filed a similar lawsuit against Las Vegas Sands with the U.S. District Court in Nevada, but AAEC withdrew the case in late 2014.

In its interim report, Sands China said that given that the legal proceedings were at a preliminary stage, it was “unable to determine the probability of the outcome of this matter or the range of reasonably possible loss, if any”.

“The company intends to defend this matter vigorously,” it added.

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