Team King is accused of being an insider.
Northern Mariana Islands.- The Northern Mariana Islands government and the committee of Imperial Pacific International (IPI)’s unsecured creditors have expressed opposition against the sale of IPI’s casino assets to Team King Investment. They claim that the auction winner is an insider.
According to Marianas Variety, Joshua Gray, a former director of operations who won a discrimination lawsuit against IPI, through his lawyer, Aaron Halegua, said there were only two potential buyers, Loi Lam Sit and Team King, both closely linked to IPI, and claims that a restrictive confidentiality agreement with Intrepid Investment Bankers, the bank selected to conduct the auction, prevented other companies from bidding.
Halegua argues that Sit had no experience in the hotel or casino industry and was linked to one of IPI’s main investors, Xiaobo Ji. He claimed that an unnamed Team King executive was appointed executive director of IPI’s parent company in 2023 and another, Hiroshi Kaneko, had previously agreed to invest US$300m in IPI.
The CNMI government, represented by chief solicitor J. Robert Glass Jr., said Team King was founded in the CNMI on February 4 and that board members are associated with IPI. Its founding documents were submitted by Howyo Chi, an alleged director of IPI.
Glass alleged that IPI and its committee of creditors failed to maximise the value of the company’s assets by favouring insider bidders and rejecting other bids. The government has urged the court to reject the sale. It suggests that the process be reopened with greater transparecy, that previously rejected bids be accepted, that greater transparency be ensured, or that other steps be taken to secure a better return for creditors.
