KUALA LUMPUR: Genting Malaysia Bhd shares fell more than 15 per cent in early trade this morning after the group sued 21st Century Fox and its soon-to-be new owner, the Walt Disney Co, for pulling out of a deal for a Fox World theme park at its casino resort in Pahang.

Genting Malaysia fell as much as 67 sen to RM2.93 before settling 12 per cent lower at RM3.16 with 133.4 million shares traded at 10.45am.

The group has sought more than US$1 billion in damages, according to a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, according to Bloomberg.

The reason Fox terminated the deal, according to Genting, was that family-centric Disney did not want to be associated with a gaming business.

"Disney wanted no association with a gaming company like Genting Malaysia due to Disney's 'family-friendly' brand strategy," Genting Malaysia was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.