THE majority owner of Okada Manila may do a backdoor listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) using the shares of Asiabest Group International Inc., a holding firm that has no operations.
In its disclosure, Asiabest said a group of its shareholders and Tiger Resort Asia Ltd. have already signed a share-purchase agreement for the sale of 200 million shares for about P646.5 million.
Shares of Asiabest were suspended from trading on Tuesday morning and were last traded at P41.10 per share.
The said amount of shares that Tiger will buy will amount to about two-thirds of Asiabest’s outstanding shares of 300 million. According to rules, Tiger will have to make a tender offer for the rest of the shares being held by other minority owners.
The said move will pave the way for Tiger’s backdoor listing, which occurs when a privately held company takes over a publicly listed company.
Tiger is a Hong Kong corporation and is currently the majority shareholder of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., the owner of Okada Manila.
“The sale shall be effected by way of special block sale through the PSE on November 12 or at a date which may be mutually agreed upon by the parties,” Asiabest said.
“Soon after this agreement, Tiger shall conduct a tender offer to be completed prior to closing date,” it added.
Okada Manila, named after Japanese gambling magnate Kazuo Okada, which owns Tiger, was the third integrated resort and casino to open in Entertainment City in Parañaque. It has the biggest property among the three other players.
Asiabest, formerly AGP Industrial Corp., was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 23, 1970, as an investment holding company. In 2011 the SEC approved its application for quasi-organization and equity restructuring, thereby substantially wiping out its deficits and allowing the company to raise additional capital needed for investments.
In September 2011 its board of directors ratified the sale of all the company’s share of stock and interest in its subsidiaries.