Court rejects IPI assets sale plan

The court has approved creditors’ request to engage Intrepid Investment Bankers to market IPI’s properties as a holistic business.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Chief judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has denied Imperial Pacific International (IPI)’s bid to sell its unfinished Garapan hotel casino and real estate assets. Manglona also turned down IPI’s request to employ Keen-Summit Capital Partners to promote IPI’s property.

Instead, the judge granted IPI creditors’ request to engage Intrepid Investment Bankers to market IPI’s properties as a holistic business rather than real estate property. The committee had said Intrepid could be able to identify potential buyers that the previous limited marketing process had overlooked.

According to The Saipan Tribune, creditors said that if the approach does not succeed, IPI can proceed with a real estate sale using the proposed real estate broker.

IPI’s main real estate assets include a hotel building that is currently under construction with a casino, a leasehold interest in around 19,204 square meters of land leased from the Department of Public Lands (DPL) under Lease Agreement No. LA-15-002S, and IPI’s ownership interest in Imperial Pacific Properties, which holds a leasehold interest in eight lots adjacent to the leasehold property.

Earlier this month, The Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) board chair Edward DeLeon Guerrero said the regulator was waiting for the approval of Thomas A. Manglona as a new member to go ahead with revocation proceedings against IPI.

Deleon Guerrero gave an update on IPI’s debt to the CNMI government. As of October 1, he stated that the casino operator owes the CNMI US$77.5m for Annual Licence Fees from August 2020 and US$17.6m for Casino Regulatory Fees from October 2020.