Plans to complete a backdoor listing of Philippines integrated resort Okada Manila on the Philippine Stock Exchange appear to have been put on hold after its parent announced Friday the sale of the listed entity in question.
According to information from Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp, its wholly-owned subsidiary Tiger Resort Asia Ltd (TRA) – the direct owner of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) – has entered into a share purchase agreement through which real estate firm PremiumLands Corp will acquire it entire 66.67% stake in listed firm Asiabest Group International Inc for Php510.4 million (US$8.8 million).
TRA had acquired 200 million shares of AsiaBest Group in February 2019 with plans to use it for a backdoor listing of Okada Manila but said Friday, “Considering that the financial performance of Okada Manila, the integrated resort operated by TRLEI, have been growing steadily and performing well in the past years, TRA has judged that the necessity of AsiaBest Group for TRLEI to be listed no longer exist.
“In the objective of business portfolio transformation, the company decided to sell ABG to the third party.”
It remains unclear whether Okada Manila and its associated entities may seek listed by different means in the future, having last year terminated a merger agreement with US-based SPAC firm 26 Capital Acquisition Corp that would have seen the joint venture company listed on the NASDAQ.