The long, turbulent saga of Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) may be coming to an end, but it’s not there yet.
In license revocation hearings that concluded March 1, IPI and casino regulators in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) agreed to a financial settlement of US$49 million that would transfer IPI’s exclusive gaming license on Saipan to a new investor.
The payment included $31 million in past-due license fees and $16 million to keep the license from being revoked entirely, against accumulated total debts of US$79.63 million in license fees, regulatory fees, fines and penalties. The Hong Kong-listed operator developed and operated the sole casino resort on the island of Saipan, the Imperial Pacific Palace, which closed in March 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The recent deal reportedly was acceptable to the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC), but spurned at the last minute by CNMI Governor Arnold Palacios.
IPI Director Howyo Chi told Marianas Variety, “IPI is looking for a way to settle this amicably. It’s not our intention to go through this messy revocation process that could drag on for years to come.”
He noted that commissioners were “amenable to our offer to leave the island and transfer the license. We are just frustrated that the governor appears to have stuck to this messy litigation. We want to settle this as swiftly and peacefully as possible.”
Per the Variety, IPI legal counsel Michael Chen added, “When we were negotiating strictly with CCC, without the governor’s counsel, without the governor’s presence, we had a framework developed that was agreeable between CCC and IPI. CCC was supposed to present it to the governor, but we never got an answer from the governor until one day he came in and said that he would like to see all the proposals and make his own decision.
“It is quite frustrating that we keep negotiating and not able to get something in return, something that is agreeable. So far we have not been able to get that.”
In 2021, after IPI failed to pay its debts, the commission suspended its license, which included exclusive gaming rights on Saipan, the largest island in the CNMI. The company then filed suit against the CCC and Governor Palacios for breaching their casino license agreement, in actions it described as unconstitutional.
During the revocation hearing, Chen disclosed that Tokyo-based Kyosei Bank Group has agreed to assume control of IPI’s assets, including the license, in an agreement that would render the license non-exclusive. Now the regulator must hold a public hearing by the end of the month to make a decision on the license, the Variety said.
