PRESIDENT
Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc
POWER SCORE: 564
POSITION LAST YEAR: 48
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Former Deutsche Bank and Union Gaming investment banker
IT’S BEEN a tumultuous few months for Byron Yip. In late May, a group representing the former Chairman of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Corp, Kazuo Okada, stormed the Philippines integrated resort and took control, claiming a recently issued court order gave them the right to do so.
In the blink of an eye, Yip and his executive team were locked out of their own property – sparking a series of legal and public relations battles over who is truly entitled to control of Okada Manila. That question appears to have been answered to some extent, with Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR ordering the Kazuo Okada group out in early September, and Yip reinstated under the guidance of Okada Manila’s ultimate parent company, Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp.
While the drama delayed plans for TRLEI to list on the NASDAQ via a previously agreed SPAC merger, there is at least reason for optimism looking forward, with the Philippines enjoying a post-COVID resurgence.
Shortly before Yip’s reinstatement, TRLEI announced that gross gaming revenues in 2Q22 had grown by 38% over the March quarter with expectations of ongoing growth well into 2023. That’s great news for Okada Manila, which used the pandemic period to ensure the last of its 1,000 hotel rooms – the most among Manila’s IRs – were finally fitted out and ready for guests.
For the full list of 2022 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
