Despite a filed legal counterclaim, experts revealed that Genting Malaysia may likely proceed with the opening of the Outdoor Theme Park in Resort World Genting (RWG) in Pahang next year, reported the Borneo Post.
On Wednesday (23 Jan), 20th Century Fox, Fox Entertainment Group and The Walt Disney Co lodged a legal counterclaim to the US$1 billion lawsuit filed by Genting Malaysia in November. The case filed by Genting Malaysia alleged that the defendants violated a contract to build a Fox-branded theme park in RWG.
In the counterclaim, the defendants alleged that Genting Malaysia violated an agreement and breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
According to a stock exchange filing by Genting Malaysia, Fox is seeking about US$46.4 million (RM191.7 million), in regards to travel reimbursements, annual licence fees, guarantee amounts/royalties, consequential damages, reasonable costs and other relief.
Nonetheless, Maybank Investment Bank analysts noted that Fox and Disney did not file an injunction preventing Genting Malaysia from opening the Outdoor Theme Park.
“The aforementioned development is not new in our view. That said, what piqued our interest is that neither Fox nor Disney sought an injunction to preclude Genting Malaysia from opening the OTP as we had earlier feared.”
“This implies that Genting Malaysia may be able to proceed to either operate the theme park by itself or partner (with) other (movie) studios,” it noted.
If there are no other barriers to the opening of the theme park, it could start operating by Q1 2020. As such, RWG’s visitor arrivals is expected to increase by 9.0 percent or by another 2 million in FY2020. However, it’s possible that the opening could be delayed further.
Image source: Says Malaysia
Win up to RM3,000 CASH just by sharing your thoughts on the Malaysian property market! Take the PropertyGuru Sentiment Survey here.
