Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific denies bankruptcy rumors

Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) says it’s taking legal action to quash rumors questioning the company’s solvency.

On Friday, IPI issued a statement saying “a rumor is circulating on social media about a senior executive of IPI, and the financial status of the company. The rumor is completely baseless and untrue. If in fact IPI had or will be initiating bankruptcy proceedings, an announcement with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would have been made.”

The statement went on to say that “the rumor of the bankruptcy proceeding is completely false” and the company was taking “legal action against the original online source spreading slanderous fake news.” IPI didn’t specify the identity of these online rumormongers.

IPI’s missive came just days after the company informed the markets that it was seeking to raise $38.3m via a bond placement to fund “general corporate purposes.” That announcement followed IPI’s revelation in August that its profits had plunged 91.3% in the first six months of 2018.