With a little side-eye, lawyers for an Omni Hotels affiliate say they’re willing to give Senator Jim Justice and his family business more time to work on a possible $500 million financial deal that could pay down debt on The Greenbrier Hotel.
They say there should be a firm deadline within a couple of weeks, though, even they see some progress toward the potential deal.
“But Defendants opacity throughout this process — and the Justices’ long history of litigation to avoid paying their debts — tint WSSH’s view with judicious skepticism,” wrote attorneys for the Omni affiliate White Sulphur Springs Holdings in a new court filing.
White Sulphur Springs Holdings, which bought about $300 million in first-lien debt on The Greenbrier earlier this year, filed a federal receivership lawsuit against The Greenbrier’s owners, the Justice family, on April 17.
Lawyers for the holding company say their collateral is at risk, and they’ve been asking the judge to appoint a third-party receiver to oversee the hotel while pushing out the owners, Senator Jim Justice and his family business.
The Justices and their Greenbrier Hotel Corporation say they have been working on a $500 million deal with the New York firm Kennedy Lewis Investment Management to pay off White Sulphur Springs Holdings and other entities owed money while also providing enough to invest in long-needed hotel improvements.
Some of the suggested dates to close the deal have already come and gone. The attorneys for The Greenbrier say another period up to August 7 is necessary to work through complications like the sheer size of the financial deal, regulatory oversight of the casino license and the finer details of a resulting joint venture.
“Defendants’ timeline for closing this transaction continues to grow longer with still no clear end date in sight,” wrote attorneys for White Sulphur Springs Holdings in a Friday evening filing.
The lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings said they have seen enough signs that the deal could be on track. But they say, “The Court should give Defendants a firm deadline of August 7, 2026, to close and fund their transaction.”
White Sulphur Springs Holdings, which is a subsidiary of the Texas-based TRT Holdings and the billionaire Rowling family, acknowledged positive signs such as a Wednesday discussion with attorneys for Kennedy Lewis Investment Management. The same day, White Sulphur Springs Holdings sent the Justices and Kennedy Lewis a requested letter with provisions for payment and release of the liens.
“Those discussions were frank and professional, and WSSH will not recount the details further here,” the attorneys wrote in the filing.
But White Sulphur Springs Holdings says it has yet to see drafts of any necessary deal documents yet alone definitive closing documents.
And White Sulphur Springs Holdings observed that the closing is conditioned on the approval of the West Virginia Lottery Commission, which is reviewing effects on the resort’s casino license and “may have its own ideas about the appropriateness of these matters.”
The lawyers for White Sulphur Springs Holdings wrote that ” however optimistic WSSH may be, it also imbued with skepticism. Based on Defendants’ past representations, this deal should have long been closed and funded.”
They conclude, “This refinancing process must have an end. Defendants have had their opportunity and thrice extended their own deadline. If Defendants’ transaction does not close and fund by August 7, the Court should promptly set a schedule to hear and determine the merits of WSSH’s request for a receivership and injunctive relief.”