Yung Kee sons plan to open new restaurant after judge's ruling

Sons of late Yung Kee shareholder Kinsen Kam Kwan-sing announced plans yesterday to open a restaurant to compete with the famed establishment now run by a rival branch of the family.

The brothers announced their intentions after a High Court judge, in a written judgment, dismissed their father's petition to wind up the company that runs the famed roast goose restaurant in Central.

Kinsen's estate must now pay legal costs, estimated at about HK$30 million, to his brother, Ronald Kam Kwan-lai, after the judge, Mr Justice Jonathan Harris, ruled against Kinsen's application on a technical point.

He noted that Yung Kee Holdings, an investment vehicle, was an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands that had no business activities in Hong Kong.

"If I had not dismissed the petition for want of jurisdiction, I would have found that the petitioner had been unfairly prejudiced by [Ronald Kam] Kwan-lai's conduct, and ordered that Kwan-lai purchase the petitioner's [shares]," wrote the judge.

He also noted: "I hope that, notwithstanding my decision to dismiss the petition, the estate of the late petitioner [Kinsen] and Kwan-lai are able to find an amicable solution to the differences that caused the unfortunate breakdown in the relationship between the two brothers."