26 Capital CEO Jason Ader says that despite swirling controversy, merger completion and the subsequent US listing are still in the cards for Okada Manila this year, reports Casino.org.
Ader’s SPAC aims to merge with the Philippine integrated resort operator in a $2.6 billion deal that also paves the way for a Nasdaq listing. That transaction encountered various delays in recent months, after Kazuo Okada — the man for whom the venue is named — and his associates briefly took physical control of the casino hotel.
That was followed by more legal wranglings and an accounting controversy, which some market observers speculated endangered the SPAC deal.
Universal Entertainment is the Japan-based parent of Okada Manila.
“Our company is planning to move full-steam ahead with Universal Entertainment Corp. to list Okada Manila,” said Ader in an interview with Reuters. “It is possible we can do it this year.”
The deal was slated to be finalized at the end of June.
Okada believes he was unfairly ousted from the board in 2017. He is seen as leveraging an April ruling by the Philippines Supreme Court ordering the company to return the board to its 2017 state to affect the takeover of Okada Manila.
Also in June, reports surfaced that Okada made an unauthorized $36.4 million payment to a company controlled by Okada Manila Chairman Dindo Espelata. The parties in question deny the payment happened, but several banks at which the gaming company does business say the casino operator’s assets were frozen. Read more.
