Nasdaq-listed 26 Capital To Pursue $2.5B Okada Deal

Despite the ongoing squabble over the property's management, Miami-based 26 Capital Acquisition Corp.—the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) controlled by investor Jason Ader—remains committed to completing its merger with Okada Manila and listing one of the Philippines' largest casino resorts on Nasdaq.

Photo Insert: Okada Manila

According to a report filed by John Burgos for Forbes Asia, chair and founder of the SPAC Jason Ader stated that he is “fully committed to this deal.”

Under the deal, the Tokyo-listed Universal Entertainment Corp. will inject Okada Manila into 26 Capital in exchange for an 88 percent stake in the combined entity dubbed Universal Entertainment Resorts Inc. (UERI), which will be listed on Nasdaq, in a deal valued at $2.6 billion.

A meeting of 26 Capital shareholders scheduled for June 28 to vote on the transaction was postponed after a group of people representing billionaire Kazuo Okada took control of the property on May 31, enforcing a status quo ante order issued by the Supreme Court to reinstate Okada and his representatives to the board of Tiger Resort and Leisure Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI)—the casino resort's operator.

The postponement of the 26 Capital shareholders' meeting comes just days after Tokyo-based Universal Entertainment announced in a regulatory filing on Friday that it plans to push the deal's completion date from this month to September 30.

Ader made clear that once approved, Okada Manila will list on Nasdaq under the UERI ticker. Despite the ongoing squabble between Kazuo Okada, founder of Japan's Universal Entertainment, and his son Tomohiro Okada over management of the Philippine property, 26 Capital, which is investing $275 million in UERI, is pursuing the acquisition.

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