Genting and Fox Settle Malaysian Theme Park Battle

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Genting Malaysia, the resorts and hotels group that last year sued Fox and Disney over theme park plans in Malaysia, says that all lawsuits have been settled out of court. It intends to restart building at the site.

“The parties have entered into a restated memorandum of agreement dated 25 July 2019 granting (Genting Malaysia) a license to use certain Fox intellectual properties. (Genting Malaysia) is currently updating its development and construction plans to complete the outdoor theme park utilizing both Fox and non-Fox intellectual properties,” Genting Malaysia said in a filing Friday to the Bursa Malaysia stock market in Kuala Lumpur. “The outdoor theme park shall also be renamed,” it added.

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Genting Malaysia, which is part of the even larger Genting Berhad conglomerate, took legal action in the U.S. against the Hollywood pair in November last year. It argued that the then looming takeover of 21st Century Fox by Disney had caused Fox to abandon their commitment to jointly build 20th Century Fox World park. It said that the park location, adjacent to one of Genting Malaysia’s casinos, ran counter to Disney’s family friendly policies.

Genting Malaysia said that it had spent $750 million on the development and sought $1 billion of payments.

The Hollywood companies denied the charges. And Fox hit back with a counter-suit on Jan. 23.

Neither the filing, nor Genting Malaysia have clarified which Fox properties have been agreed on under the settlement. It is reported that building work was nearing completion, and that a third-party compliance body granted approval to two rides: “Independence Day – Defiance” and “Night at the Museum – Midnight Mayhem.”

Genting Malaysia has not revealed the park’s new name or its expected opening date. Rather it said: “the settlement of the legal proceedings is not expected to have any material effect on the consolidated earnings, net assets and gearing of (Genting Malaysia) for the financial year ending 31 December 2019.”

The company’s shares climbed steeply this week, ahead of the settlement news. They added a further 6%, reaching RM3.91, on late Friday afternoon.

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