Deposed Okada board gets US merger prospect’s backing
US firm 26 Capital Acquisition Corp. expects its merger with the embattled Okada Manila to proceed as planned, but stressed that the ongoing boardroom crisis paints the entire local gaming industry in a bad light.
On June 28, the stockholders of the US-based special purpose acquisition company will be convening virtually to tackle the approval of the proposed union.
The merger, which was initially announced in October last year, will allow the integrated gaming resort’s shares to be listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (Nasdaq), opening up Okada Manila to foreign investors.
By July, 26 Capital CEO Jason Ader expects that Nasdaq listing will happen despite the recent “illegal and forceful” takeover of the casino hotel premises by the camp of Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada.
“Kazuo Okada believes that he’s rightfully in the managing position. We don’t believe that’s the case. We think that Universal [Entertainment Corp. or UEC] will be back in control of the property very soon,” he told the Inquirer on Thursday.
UEC owns Tiger Resorts Asia Ltd. (TRAL), which is the parent firm of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) that operates Okada Manila.
“I am optimistic that it will get resolved in favor of Universal,” he added. “We are not gonna let Kazuo Okada disrupt it in any way.”
Okada’s camp, led by businessman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, reportedly stormed the integrated resort in Pagcor Entertainment City during a stockholders’ meeting and physically removed TRLEI director Hajime Tokuda and other executives last week. The deposed board members said Cojuangco was accompanied by Dindo Espeleta, lawyer Florencio Herrera III and at least 50 private guards, police officers and a sheriff.
The party that took over said it was acting on the “status quo ante order” issued by the Philippine Supreme Court in April, which they claim restores Okada as a shareholder, director, chair and CEO of TRLEI; the opposing faction refuted this due to lack of basis. He was ousted in 2017 for alleged misappropriation of funds.
Supreme Court motion
The deposed board has filed a motion before the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of its order as it believes that the Cojuangco-led camp has acted beyond its mandate.
It asked the high court to declare the installation of new board directors and officers, including Cojuangco and Espeleta, as void as they were not holding such positions in 2017, which is the period covered by the court order.
“Indeed, there is nothing in the status quo ante order which authorized nor empowered [Okada] to install his own board of directors and officers, especially when such is different from the status quo in 2017,” it explained in a court document.
It said restoring the status quo means Okada would only have one nominal share of TRLEI, which does not give him authority to take over. “TRAL will never entrust again to Kazuo even a single share,” it added, noting that share’s deed of trust has been repealed.
It asked the Supreme Court to instruct “the Kazuo Okada group to refrain from exercising management and board functions and surrender physical possession of the Okada Hotel to TRLEI.” INQ
###—###
#Kicker
Foreign listing to proceed once crisis is resolved
#Byline2
@TyronePiad
By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
@TyronePiad
