The dispute between Australian-listed Silver Heritage Group (SHG), operator of Tiger Palace Resort in Bhairahawa and its local partner Rajendra Bajgain has ended after both sides reached a final settlement deal.

In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday, Silver Heritage said that under the terms of the settlement, both Rajendra Bajgain and his brother Nabaraj Bajgain have sold their 10 percent shares (total 500,000 shares), according to reports.

Sources familiar with the deal, said the 500,000 shares have been purchased by Tiger Kathmandu Investment at Rs 109 per share. The Tiger Kathmandu Investment is owned by Subarna Shrestha—one of the owners of Kupondole-based Summit Hotel. The share purchase by the new group had been previously approved by the Department of Industry, the report said.

“Silver Heritage and Bajgain have mutually agreed that the vision and objective of opening the region’s first integrated resort (Tiger Palace at Bhairahawa, Nepal) has now been met, and that the collaboration and partnership between the two parties in Nepal has reached its natural conclusion,” the company said in a statement.

Boutique Asian casino operator SVH was embroiled in a legal battle in Nepal after it removed its local partner Bajgain, who was overseeing implementation of a casino project in Bhairahawa.

The SVH made its debut in Bhairahawa by establishing Tiger Palace 1 casino resort. The resort-cum-casino, built at a cost of Rs5.2 billion, formally came into operation on March 17.

The property located near the birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini and touted as the biggest casino resort in South Asia is planning to draw majority of its clients from heavily populated Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The project had faced several hurdles before it launched its operation due to delay in regulatory approvals and funding crunch. Now, the company is facing legal problems.

The fresh controversy surfaced after Silver Heritage Limited Management Service, Kathmandu, a holding of SVH, on February 22, terminated its consultancy agreement with Bajgain,

who had accused the company of illegally hiring foreign workers.

Subsequently, Bajgain moved the Kathmandu District Court seeking annulment of the decision. On March 5, the court ordered the company’s director Mike Bolsover not to terminate its consultancy agreement with Bajgain. The company then moved the Patan High Court to vacate the order issued by the district court.

Bajgain had claimed that 22 foreign staffers at Tiger Palace were working without work permits. Of them, 17 have left the country after the issue of illegal hiring came to the surface. However, both sides later agreed to settle the issue outside of the courtroom.