The Pitfalls Of Dispute Resolution In Multi-Party M&A

Disputes arising from M&A and joint venture arrangements can be complex. Multiple parties and multiple contracts create many possible dispute combinations, even in situations where the parties can be allocated to two distinct groups. Dispute resolution provisions need to be drafted carefully to cope with every possible eventuality. Where they are not, there is the risk that contractual remedies are ineffective. The Singapore High Court has recently considered such a situation in Sanum Investments Limited v ST Group Co, Ltd and others [2018] SGHC 141.

The facts

The gambling industry in Laos has grown substantially in the past decade. The casinos are located within Special Economic Zones set up by the Government and attract Thai and Chinese tourists in particular. One foreign investor, the Macau-based Sanum Investments Limited ("Sanum"), has had an especially chequered time since it first entered the industry in 2007 by way of a joint venture with a local company, ST