A Tokyo court has ruled in favor of Tomohiro Okada, the son of Kazuo Okada, in a complaint filed by Tomohiro against his sister Hiromi regarding a 2017 agreement between the two siblings that led to the removal of their father from family-owned Okada Holdings Ltd.
The Japanese gaming mogul was ousted from Okada Holdings, which owns 68% of the company’s gaming vehicle Universal Entertainment Corp, in 2017 after Tomohiro and Hiromi joined forces via a Trust Agreement to take control of the business.
Okada holds a 46.38% stake in Okada Holdings while Tomohiro holds 43.48%, meaning effective control of the company depends on an alliance with Hiromi and her 9.78% share.
However, having originally sided with her brother in a move that ultimately enabled Okada to be ousted, Hiromi subsequently reconciled with Kazuo Okada in the months that followed and the pair filed criminal proceedings in Hong Kong against both Tomohiro and Universal, among which Hiromi claimed that she had been tricked into signing the Trust Agreement in May of 2017. Tomohiro then filed his complaint in Tokyo to validate their Trust Agreement, with the court this week ruling that the agreement was indeed valid.
Despite the findings, the Kazuo Okada camp was quick to respond overnight, stating that Hiromi will appeal the decision.
Lawyers representing Okada also promised to continue their fight for control of Universal and against plans by the company to complete a backdoor listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange of Universal subsidiary Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, Inc, (TRLEI) operator of Philippines IR Okada Manila.
“As the rightful owner of Okada Holdings, how can they not consult him on matters regarding his company and his property?” the lawyers said in a statement sent to Inside Asian Gaming.
“He was not consulted at all in that transaction and he will file cases against those responsible for the backdoor listing.”
TRLEI is also planning to change the name of the Okada Manila property once its backdoor listing is complete.
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