A group of secured lenders owed $100 million by dolphin park owner Leisure Investment Holdings LLC said in court filings Nov. 25 that its liens over the debtor's assets are senior to a judgment creditor and the group should be given an early win in the lien dispute.

In their motion for summary judgment and accompanying memorandum of law, secured lenders Prudential Insurance Company of America and Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company say they have a valid senior lien on the assets of the debtor tied to a 2019 note purchase agreement and subsequent amendments, and that judgment creditor Tradewinds Ltd. hasn't adequately demonstrated that its liens extend to the same collateral.

Tradewinds secured a nearly $4 million arbitration judgment against the debtor's ultimate parent company, Controladora Dolphin SA de CV, in 2017 and subsequently registered that judgment in Florida court and with the Florida Department of State, granting it a lien over the personal property of that entity located within Florida, the secured lenders argued.

"It is valid only as to Controladora's personal property in Florida—it does not extend to real property or other asset types, liens upon which must be perfected through procedures that Tradewinds has not pursued," the memorandum said. "Thus, Tradewinds' claim that it has a 'valid, fully perfected, and enforceable lien' against Controladora's property in Florida, personal property or otherwise, is patently false."

The dispute focuses on whether Tradewinds' lien extends over the real property of Controladora and its subsidiaries that includes four marine parks owned and operated by the debtors. The lenders say they have valid, senior secured liens over those assets and Tradewinds doesn't, and even if Tradewinds did have liens over such property, they would be junior to the lenders' claims.

Leisure Investment Holdings, an affiliate of Mexico-based The Dolphin Co., filed for bankruptcy in March with between $100 million and $500 million in debt. The company, which has 30 dolphin and marine parks in eight countries, has since secured $129 million in debtor-in-possession financing to maintain operation while it pursues a sale of its U.S. assets.

A $4.55 million sale of one of those marine parks — Gulf World in Panama City, Florida — received bankruptcy court approval in late October, and a $6.1 million sale of the Marineland facility in St. Augustine likewise was approved in mid-November, according to court filings.

Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond late Wednesday to requests for comment.

Prudential and Cigna are represented by Scott D. Cousins and Ann M. Kashishian of Lewis BrisboisBisgaard & Smith LLP and Paul J. Keenan Jr., John R. Dodd, Kevin Whittam, Blaire Cahn and Benjamin Davis of Baker & McKenzie LLP.

Tradewinds is represented by William D. Sullivan and William A. Hazeltine of Sullivan Hazeltine Allinson LLC and J. Andrew Fine of FineCounsel.

The adversary case is Tradewinds Ltd. v. Controladora Dolphin SA de CV, et al., case number 1:25-ap-51024, and the bankruptcy case is In re: Leisure Investments Holdings LLC et al., case number 1:25-bk-10606, both in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.