Gaming | Wynn settles dispute with general contractor

Gaming subsidiary Wynn Macau has announced that it has settled its disputes with one of the general contractors of the entity’s latest Macau resort – the Wynn Palace.
The two parties had been in a dispute regarding the scope of the project agreed and the cost and timeliness regarding its completion. Wynn Macau had accused Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd of failing to deliver as per the contractual agreement of the parties.
The casino operator had attributed delays in the construction of the Wynn Palace to the contractor. However, Leighton Contractors (Asia) refuted the allegations, insisting that the scope of the project had been amended and therefore previous estimations of cost and time were no longer valid.
Wynn Macau reached an agreement with Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd that the former will increase the total guaranteed maximum price payable to the latter by USD390 million (about MOP3.12 billion), and also to pay an additional fee of nearly USD200 million (about MOP1.6 billion).
The initial total guaranteed maximum price payable had been set at USD2.57 billion, and the updated figure of USD2.96 billion marks an increase of around 15 percent.
Wynn Macau said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday evening that it would “forego pursuing Leighton Asia for any claim for liquidated damages or monetary claims.”
The agreement, which was reached on Friday according to Wynn, will put aside “differing views” and avoid the “potential for protracted dispute resolution proceedings that could require substantial time commitments of senior management associated with such proceedings, as well as the inherent uncertainties as to [their] outcome,” read the statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It will also terminate the bilateral cross-claims of the parties; that the other was responsible for the delay and for over-budget expenses.
Wynn Macau’s latest resort opened to the public on August 22, roughly coinciding with the first positive gaming revenue figures for the territory in about two years. It had initially been scheduled to open some five months earlier, on March 25. DB