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Three B.C. Court of Appeal judges have upheld a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that led to the sale of the Cambie Gastown and the looming closure of its popular bar and grill.

The appeal concerned the division of family-owned assets, including the Cambie Gastown.

Sally Anne Negus paid $12 million for ex-husband Sam Yehia's interest in pubs, liquor stores, and hostels in Esquimalt, Nanaimo, and Vancouver.

"These businesses are all located on property held by separate companies that were also owned by Mr. Yehia," wrote Justice Patrice Abrioux in the August 22 decision. "They are all operated by a single company, The Cambie Malone’s Corporation (“TCMC”)."

The trial judge, Nathan Smith, ordered that $2.5 million be held back for the purchase price to cover special costs, disbursements, and to the court in connection with separate legislation. So Yehia ended up with $9.5 million.

Yehia disagreed with the valuation in Smith's decision in B.C. Supreme Court.

So Yehia filed an appeal to "unravel" his wife's purchase of his share of the family business.

Because the Cambie Gaston was sold this spring, Yehia acknowledged that this transaction couldn't be halted.

So he wanted 50 percent of the price received by Negus for this property, but the Court of Appeal refused to allow this.

According to B.C. Assessment records, the Cambie sold on May 31 for $14.9 million. That was $3.4 million higher than its assessed value.

"I am not persuaded the judge erred in principle or made a palpable and overriding error in his assessment of the case," Abrioux wrote, with justices David Harris and John Savage concurring. "In reaching his conclusions, he carefully considered the evidence, and cited and properly applied the applicable law."