A Chinese businessman has won his long-running High Court battle for the ownership of the luxury Fota Island Resort in Co Cork.
After two days of intense talks, a settlement was announced at the High Court on Thursday.
Yuzhu Kang, who is from Hebei province and now lives in Dublin, had claimed he invested €30 million in Irish properties, including the five-star hotel and spa in Co Cork.
He had launched the legal action claiming an alleged conspiracy to defraud.
At the opening of the action this week, Yuzhu Kang’s counsel, Declan McGrath SC instructed by Taylor Wessing Solicitors, said the central matter in controversy in the complex case is who funded the purchase of several properties including the Cork resort, the Kingsley Hotel in Cork City Centre, and other properties.
At issue in the case was the alleged transfer of shares in the years that followed, and Mr Kang had claimed it formed part of an alleged conspiracy to defraud him.
The settlement was announced after two days of intense talks at the High Court, and counsel told Mr Justice Max Barrett it was on consent.
It brought to an end a four-year legal battle, with the action having been listed to last 12 weeks.
Null, void and ineffective
As part of the settlement, various stock transfers have been declared null, void and ineffective, and Mr Kang has been declared a 100 per cent shareholder in the company Xiu Lan Holdings Ltd, of Ballincollig, Co Cork, which is the 100 per cent shareholder of Xiu Lan Riverside Hotel Ltd.
The settlement now effectively means that Mr Kang is the owner of the Fota Island Resort and the Kinglsey Hotel, as well as three other properties which were in dispute.
Yuzhu Kang had sued businesswoman Xiu Xiang Kelly, who is also from the Hebei region but who lives at Fota Island Resort, Cork, and her son, Tuo Du, of the same address.
Mr Kang had also sued three companies; Xiu Lan Holdings Ltd and Lan Sideriver Investment Holdings Ltd, both with offices at Ballincollig, Co Cork, and Allied Express International Development Ltd, with registered offices in Hong Kong.
In the proceedings, Mr Kang had claimed he agreed in 2013 to purchase Fota Island Resort, which was being sold on the instructions of the National Assests Management Agency (Nama).
He said, with the assistance of Ms Kelly, Xiu Lan Holdings, of which Mr Kang was the 100 per cent shareholder, was incorporated to hold the investment.
In the three years that followed, he said he made several further property acquisitions in Ireland, including the Kingsley Hotel, and the majority of the properties were acquired and are held by subsidiaries direct or indirect of the Holdings company.
All of the claims were denied.
Counter-claim
Ms Kelly, who brought a counter-claim which has now been dismissed, had contended that she effected the purchase of the Fota Island Resort in 2013 using monies belonging to her and that she has at all times been the beneficial owner of the luxury resort.
It was claimed that Ms Kelly was anxious not to be identified with the proposed purchase of Fota Island Resort and that she used Mr Kang’s name “as a front” for her.
She claimed that Mr Kang was aware and consented to his then commercial profile being adopted in the context of the Fota purchase, and she was the preferred bidder.
She claimed the purchase money paid in respect of Fota was funded by herself, her son and third parties, but not Mr Kang.
Mr Justice Barrett was told on Thursday evening there would be no order for costs, with each side to pay their own fees.
The proceedings were stayed, meaning that on 48 hours’ notice the parties can go back to court with a view to enforcing the terms of the settlement.
Outside the High Court, Mr Kang said he now intends “to realise my dream for Fota that I had when I first purchased it in 2013”.
He added: “Although late, justice has been done.”
