GGRAsia – Okada Manila promoter drops backdoor listing plan for PSE

Okada Manila promoter drops backdoor listing plan for PSE

Dec 06, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

The parent of the Okada Manila casino resort (pictured), in the Philippine capital, has shelved a plan for a backdoor listing of shares in the company that runs the complex, according to a Friday filing.

Philippines-based Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc (TRLEI) is responsible for the operations of Okada Manila. The company is a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp.

In early 2019, another unit of Universal Entertainment, Hong Kong-registered Tiger Resort Asia Ltd, completed a tender offer for Asiabest Group International Inc, an existing Philippine-listed company, with the intent of listing TRLEI on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

“Considering that the financial performance of Okada Manila, the integrated resort operated by TRLEI, has been growing steadily and performing well in the past years, Tiger Resort Asia have judged that the necessity of Asiabest for TRLEI to be listed no longer exists,” stated Universal Entertainment in Friday’s filing.

As part of a “business portfolio transformation,” Tiger Resort Asia – which controls 66.67 percent of Asiabest – is to sell its stake in the latter company to privately-owned real estate developer PremiumLands Corp, for a consideration of PHP510.4 million (US$8.8 million).

“The contract regarding to the transaction has been concluded” on December 5, said the parent company.

In May, media outlet InsiderPH reported – cited two unnamed sources – that the promoter of Okada Manila was planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the Philippines for 2025, worth between US$500 million and US$750 million, instead of a backdoor listing.

For the first nine months of 2024, Okada Manila recorded gross gaming revenue of PHP25.84 billion, down 26.6 percent year-on-year.

Adjusted segmental earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for Okada Manila declined by 44.0 percent year-on-year, to PHP5.57 billion in the nine months to September 30.

In November, Universal Entertainment said it was now expecting a loss for full-year 2024. Among the reasons mentioned by the company was the “uncertain situation caused by the possibility of a continuing decline in VIP customers across the entire casino market in the Philippines”, a trend that the firm said was “expected to continue.”