Posted on: Tuesday, February 5, 2002

Hotel owner files bankruptcy

A government-backed agency in Japan wants golf course operator Sports Shinko, which recently sold three Hawai'i golf courses and two hotels, placed under court protection.

The state-run debt disposal agency Resolution and Collection Corp. made the filing Feb. 2, according to The Japan Times, which reported Sports Shinko's estimated debts at about $1.5 billion.

The company's bankruptcy is the largest for a golf course company in Japan, according to the Kyodo News Service.

Sports Shinko paid roughly $164 million for three golf courses and three hotels in Hawai'i during the late 1980s, and recently sold all but one hotel for a combined $22.4 million.

Sports Shinko still owns the Queen Kapi'olani Hotel in Waikiki.