The owner of Omni Hotels & Resorts isn’t buying an announcement by Senator Jim Justice and his family business that they have secured financing to fully satisfy the loans at the center of a conflict over control of The Greenbrier Hotel.
“The purported financing could vanish at any moment,” wrote lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings, an Omni affiliate, in a federal court brief filed over the weekend.
On Friday, lawyers for the Justice family publicly announced that they have an agreement on financing that’s enough to satisfy all obligations with White Sulphur Springs Holdings while also providing funding to resolve other outstanding obligations like tax liens. They said the amount would also allow for hotel upgrades.
The announcement did not name a specific lender or provide a financial figure.
In a related move on Friday, lawyers for the Justices entered a filing in an ongoing federal court case, asking for deadlines and hearings to be delayed 60 days because the financing had emerged as a new factor to be seen through.
The lawyers wrote that the Justices, who are the defendants in the lawsuit, “have reached an agreement with a well-qualified, highly capitalized financing partner to secure financing to repay the balance of the Loans in full.
“Defendants have signed a term sheet with that financing partner and expect that the financing transaction will close in or around late June 2026. WSSH’s claims will soon be moot, as Defendants will repay the Loans in full.’
The Justice attorneys included an offer to let the judge see the financial terms privately: “The specific terms of the financing are commercially sensitive and subject to a nondisclosure requirement, but Defendants can provide the full term sheet to the Court for in camera review if doing so would assist the Court.”
The judge in the case, Frank Volk, gave the parties until noon Saturday to file responses.
The lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings weren’t having it.
“On Friday, WSSH learned for the first time — while reading Defendants’ Motion to Continue—that Defendants have purportedly obtained a non-binding term sheet ‘to fully satisfy the loans at the center of [this] conflict,'” wrote the attorneys for White Sulphur Springs Holdings.
“Instead of notifying WSSH directly, Defendants trumpeted their alleged financing to the press. This is not productive. It is an attempt to stay these proceedings and delay paying their obligations.”
The historic resort is owned by Senator Jim Justice and his family, who purchased The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in May 2009. Since then, it has remained a central asset of the Justice family business empire even as financial troubles have swirled.
Their lender was Carter Bank & Trust of Martinsville, Va., which went through periods of conflict with the Justices as the original debt ballooned.
This past March, newly formed White Sulphur Springs Holdings LLC bought nearly $300 million in first-lien debt on The Greenbrier and related properties from Carter Bank. The holding company does not own the hotel but does own the debt.
White Sulphur Springs Holdings is an affiliate of Texas-based TRT Holdings, which is owned by Texas billionaire Robert Rowling, whose son Blake serves as the company’s president. Their Omni hotel company operates more than 50 luxury properties, including The Homestead, which is less than an hour from The Greenbrier.
Days after the debt purchase, White Sulphur Springs Holdings asked for receivership for the hotel, contending the Justices have been diverting profits to other interests while building up deferred maintenance, putting the collateral at risk.
The holding company also asked a federal judge for a temporary injunction order that would push the Justices out of hotel control.
In the latest filing, lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings contend the financing matter is not solid enough and that the move is meant to cause delay in the court system.
The lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings also say they have not been provided so far with any meaningful information about the terms of the potential financing allow that company to make informed decisions.
“WSSH will accept payment — indefeasibly and in full — of the Judgments and all other obligations Defendants owe to WSSH the moment Defendants tender it,” wrote the lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings.
“But promises are not payment. Contingent, non-binding term sheets do not equal liquidity. Until Defendants pay all obligations, WSSH must protect its collateral securing the hundreds of millions of dollars in debt Defendants owe. And those obligations compel WSSH to oppose this request for a continuance.”
Later, lawyers for The Greenbrier filed a reply, saying they had informed White Sulphur Springs Holdings “that the financing is for up to $500 million and would represent less than 5% of the total assets under management of Defendants’ financing partner,” suggesting the lender is a big player managing more than $10 billion overall.
But, wrote the lawyers for the Justices, “As of this filing, Plaintiff has not provided the requested payoff amount.”
The lawyers for the Justices said the judge should allow a delay for the upcoming deadlines and hearings “and Defendants should be permitted to do what they have been attempting to do for years: pay off these loans and move forward with their business.”