Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho on Tuesday accused his family of stealing shares in his business empire and leaving him with "almost nothing" after a share restructuring he said was done without his consent.
Ho had not authorised the transfer of shares in his holding company, Lanceford Co, to his family members that was announced on Monday, said Ho's lawyer, Gordon Oldham.
"This is robbery," Oldham, a senior partner at the Oldham, Li & Nie law firm quoted the tycoon as saying.
However holding firm Lanceford Co, whose shareholders include Ho's third wife and five children from his second wife, said the 89-year old billionaire had approved in writing the transfer of the bulk of his assets to the family.
"It is regrettable that Oldham, Li & Nie rushed to publicise these matters without checking the underlying facts in connection with the relevant transactions and we reserve our rights against that firm," it said.
The chairman of the Macau's biggest casino operator SJM Holdings started out in his business career with just $10 and over nearly half a century went on to build up a lucrative gambling empire in the former Portuguese colony.
The share restructuring, detailed in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange by SJM on Monday, said Ho would no longer have any attributable interest in Sociedade de Turismoe Diversoes de Macau, S.A. (STDM), which controls SJM's parent, STDM – Investments.
Lanceford controls STDM.
WILL WEIGH ON SJM SHARES
SJM's shares were suspended on Tuesday after being partially suspended on Monday, prior to the announcement. SJM closed down 4% on Monday after earlier falling as much as 9% after the share statement.
Analysts said the dispute would inevitably weigh on the stock, which hit a record high last week.
"Whenever there are family disputes, it's generally negative news and the stock will behave accordingly," said Andy Lam, a strategist at Harris Fraser in Hong Kong. "There've been similar stories over shareholding between family members in the past, and it's always been negative on the stock."
Since the once spry octogenarian's health deteriorated following brain surgery in 2009, intense speculation has swirled over the risks of a potentially bitter succession battle amongst his four wives and at least 17 known children.
Oldham said Ho warned that he would initiate legal proceedings against his family in the next 48 hours unless the matter was resolved.
"Dr. Ho believes that his interest in Lanceford, which contains the bulk of his assets, has had share transfers taking place by his second and third family," said Oldham.
"The effect of which is to dilute him (his assets) to almost nothing, well to nothing, and this is again without his knowledge, without his consent and certainly against his wishes."
In a letter from daughter Daisy Ho, dated January 7, she writes to Stanley Ho saying: "The share allocation at Lanceford was done in accordance with your instructions. I am glad you once again acknowledged and re-affirmed your instructions and I trust there is no longer any confusion about this."
Reuters was also sent a copy of this letter by email which has a signoff from both Stanley and Daisy Ho.
Ho, who had amassed a multi-billion dollar empire was hospitalised in 2009 and underwent two major surgeries but following a lengthy convalescence has made sparing public outings.
Oldham would not talk about Ho's state of health except to say he was "very distressed" by his family's actions.
Under the restructuring, the 26.8% stake in STDM held by Lanceford Co was transferred to family-run firms Action Winner Holdings and Ranillo Investments, which together now own Lanceford's 31.7% stake in STDM.
New shareholders include Ho's third wife, Chan Un-chan, and five children from Ho's second wife, Lucina Laam King-ying. The share proportion has been divided with Chan getting a 50.5% stake and the five siblings Pansy Ho, Daisy Ho, Maisy Ho, Josie Ho and Lawrence Ho, splitting the remaining 49.5%.
SJM, which is valued at about $9.7 bln, had a monopoly on gambling in Macau until 2002 when the territory granted new casino concessions to more operators including Wynn Resorts Ltd and Las Vegas Sands Corp.
