Demanding Refund of Down Payment
Mirae Asset Group announced on May 21 that it has submitted its answer and counterclaim to Anbang Insurance’s claim in a suit filed by the Chinese insurer over a US$5.8 billion hotel deal.
In the answer document submitted to the Delaware Equity Court in the United States on May 20 (local time), Mirae Asset denied all claims made by Anbang Insurance and emphasized that it could not secure full title insurance for the 15 hotels it agreed to purchase from Anbang until the transaction was completed.
In the United States where a real estate registration system does not exist, it is necessary for a property buyer to receive title insurance for the property from a professional insurer in order to verify that the seller is the owner of the property.
Mirae Asset said that Anbang Insurance failed to present full title insurance for the 15 hotels as it was sued by a third party with regard to the ownership of the hotels. Mirae Asset also claimed that Anbang Insurance failed to inform the Mirae Asset that it accepted the lawsuit. It added that its creditors found out the lawsuit and accordingly refused to finance the hotel deal.
Hence, Mirae Asset submitted a counterclaim asserting that Anbang Insurance committed fraud and violated its obligation to guarantee its pledge to secure and maintain full and unlimited ownership of the hotels until the end of the transaction. In addition, Mirae Asset claimed a refund of the US$580 million down payment from Anbang Insurance, together with a refund of the litigation expenses.
Mirae Asset and Anbang Insurance will engage in a “discovery process,” in which the two parties will release documents related to the lawsuit, in June and July before the start of the trial. The trial will begin on a full scale with a three-day pleading period from Aug. 24. The verdict of the first trial is expected to come out in late August or early September 2020.