TRA plans backdoor listing via Asiabest
Casino kingpin Kazuo Okada has filed a lawsuit against the gaming company he founded, Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., just as the firm makes plans to go public.
Ousted in June 2017 as chairman of the firm, Okada is also seeking reinstatement of that role and others—including shareholder, director and CEO—through a Philippine court, reported the Japan Times. The suit was filed September 5 at the Paranaque City Regional Trial Court.
At the same time, according to Inside Asian Gaming, Tiger Resort Asia Ltd., the Philippines-based casino arm of Okada’s Japan-based Universal Entertainment Corp., plans a backdoor listing of as a way to raise new capital for Okada Manila. The founder’s namesake resort opened in October 2016 but is still incomplete.
TRA will buy a majority stake—200 million shares—in investment holding firm Asiabest Group International to complete its entry to the Philippine Stock Exchange. The company’s stake, representing 66.6 percent of Asiabest’s issued share capital, carries a price tag of TRA PHP646.5 million (US$12 million).
The deal is expected to close November 12 pending approval by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), the country’s gaming regulator, reported Reuters.
Okada’s standing in the company remains doubtful. In May of last year, he was removed as director of Hong Kong-registered Okada Holdings Ltd., which he established in 2010, due to allegations that he misappropriated millions of dollars for his own use, the Times reported. His exit from the holding company led to his dismissal in June from Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, operator of his namesake $2.4 billion casino resort, Okada Manila in Entertainment City.
He denies the charges against him. “These trumped-up charges were merely meant to harass me and justify my illegal ouster,” Okada said in a statement. “Far from being valid cases, their baseless accusations only serve to demonstrate the grand conspiracy perpetrated by my detractors who betrayed my trust.”
Okada was quoted as saying that the “past months have been very harrowing and painful as I witnessed our family being attacked,” according to GGRAsia. He said his son and daughter were “used against” him in a bid to depose him as chairman of Universal Entertainment and its subsidiaries. Okada has said he is trying to regain the support of his son Tomohiro Okada in order to regain control of the family business.
In May, the billionaire claimed he was cleared in charges of fraud and perjury filed by Tiger Resort. But Philippines Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the case has not yet been resolved.
Okada’s suit also names some of the company’s directors and officers as defendants, including Takako Okada and Kenshi Asano.
