{"id":4050,"date":"2020-03-03T13:04:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T13:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=4050"},"modified":"2026-04-24T07:23:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:23:01","slug":"donaco-thai-legal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/donaco-thai-legal","title":{"rendered":"Donaco finally settles with Thai partners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Long running legal battle comes to an end after non-compete clause dropped and commercial arrangements agreed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Cambodia.- The <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/donaco-australia-casino-battle\">legal battle<\/a><\/em><\/strong> between <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?s=donaco\">Donaco International Ltd<\/a><\/em><\/strong> and its former Thai partners at the Star Vegas Casino in Cambodia has finally come to an end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Asian casino operator has agreed to remove a non-compete clause and to renew Donaco\u2019s Star Vegas lease for 95 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> \u201cThe share sale agreement will be amended to acknowledge the existence of the competing casino constructed near to the Star [Vegas] casino,\u201d Donaco Chairman, Mel Ashton, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In return, Donaco will receive a US$38 million payment from its former partners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The settlement brings multiple proceedings to an end including an arbitration claim in Singapore, where Donaco was seeking US$190 million in damages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also ends a Cambodian court battle over a disputed 50-year land lease deal for Star Vegas, both related to Donaco\u2019s assertion that the vendors continued to run gaming operations in Poipet in defiance of non-compete provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Inside Asian Gaming, in the new lease agreement running until 2115, Donaco will pay the vendors US$20,000 per month for the first five years and US$30,000 per month for the following five years, with rent then increasing by 3% every three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Donaco will also pay 25% of any Star Vegas EBITDA in excess of US$16 million for the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe settlement reached provides certainty of tenure for the Star Vegas business and will conclude all disputes between the parties. It will also allow the Company and management to now focus on the forward momentum of the profitable Star Vegas business, and continued improvements to the Company\u2019s balance sheet and financial position ahead of any COVID-19 impacts to second half revenue and earnings,\u201d Donaco said in a statement.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Long running legal battle comes to an end after non-compete clause dropped and commercial arrangements agreed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Donaco International Ltd has settled its protracted legal dispute with former Thai partners concerning the Star Vegas Casino in Cambodia. The agreement involves the removal of a non-compete clause, a 95-year lease renewal for Star Vegas, and a US$38 million payment to Donaco, resolving multiple arbitration and court proceedings. This resolution provides operational certainty and is expected to enhance Donaco's financial stability.","focusai_entities":"Donaco International Ltd, Mel Ashton, Former Thai partners","focusai_location":"Cambodia, Singapore, Poipet","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Star Vegas Valuation Impact","query":"How will the US$38 million settlement payment and the 95-year lease agreement for Star Vegas, coupled with the EBITDA sharing clause, impact Donaco International Ltd's forward-looking valuation and capital allocation strategy?"},{"label":"Regional Competitive Dynamics","query":"What are the broader implications of the non-compete clause being dropped for the competitive landscape of gaming operations in Poipet, Cambodia, and how might this influence future market entry or expansion strategies by other operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,28,16333],"tags":[30,966,4503],"class_list":["post-4050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-casino-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-cambodia","tag-donaco","tag-legal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4050"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4088,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4050\/revisions\/4088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}