{"id":777007124,"date":"2023-07-11T08:40:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T11:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777007124"},"modified":"2026-04-22T20:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T23:12:03","slug":"universal-ent-accused-of-sabotaging-okada-spac-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/universal-ent-accused-of-sabotaging-okada-spac-deal","title":{"rendered":"Universal Ent accused of sabotaging Okada SPAC deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The CEO of 26 Capital says Universal Entertainment executives offered no cooperation on the US$2.6bn deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.- <strong>Jason Ader<\/strong>, the founder of 26 Capital Acquisition Corp., has claimed in court that Universal sought to sabotage the merger of Okada Manila with SPAC 26 Capital last year.\u00a0The agreement\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/okada-manila-to-go-public-by-merging-with-spac\" target=\"_blank\">announced in October 2021<\/a>\u00a0was intended to allow Universal to combine with its Philippine subsidiary Tiger Resorts Asia and list Okada on the Nasdaq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Universal Entertainment called off the agreement, accusing 26 Capital of disregarding SEC laws and misleading investors. The original completion timeline for the agreement was set for June 2022 but was later changed\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/universal-plans-to-merge-with-26-capital-by-september-30\" target=\"_blank\">to September 30, 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ader expressed<strong>\u00a0frustration over a lack of cooperation from Universal<\/strong>. He claimed Universal had disregarded their commitment to make their &#8220;reasonable best efforts&#8221; to complete the transaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SPAC invested<strong> US$275m in the 100-acre Okada Manila resort and casino<\/strong>, which carries a valuation of US$2.6bn while Universal holds an 88 per cent stake in the property. The conflict arose following the removal of billionaire Kazuo Okada, the founder of Universal, from its board and his subsequent &#8220;illegal occupation&#8221; of the resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ader maintained his belief in the value of the merger and requested the judge to enforce the combination agreement. He stressed the potential of the Philippine gaming market, and the resort&#8217;s undervaluation, and said the deal was still a &#8220;great deal.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CEO of 26 Capital says Universal Entertainment executives offered no cooperation on the US$2.6bn deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":9219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"A significant dispute has emerged regarding the US$2.6bn SPAC merger between Okada Manila and 26 Capital Acquisition Corp., with 26 Capital's CEO, Jason Ader, alleging Universal Entertainment's non-cooperation and sabotage. Universal, holding an 88% stake in Okada Manila, previously accused 26 Capital of SEC violations, leading to the deal's termination. Ader is now seeking judicial enforcement of the merger agreement, citing the Philippine market's potential and the resort's undervaluation.","focusai_entities":"26 Capital Acquisition Corp., Universal Entertainment, Okada Manila, Tiger Resorts Asia, Jason Ader, Kazuo Okada, Nasdaq, SEC","focusai_location":"Philippines","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (0.8), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Enforce Merger Implications","query":"What are the potential precedents and long-term implications for SPAC mergers in the iGaming sector if the court enforces the combination agreement against Universal Entertainment's stated objections?"},{"label":"Governance Framework Impact","query":"How might this high-profile governance dispute, stemming from the removal of Kazuo Okada, influence future M&A due diligence and corporate governance frameworks for integrated resort operators in emerging markets?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16333],"tags":[8986,23749],"class_list":["post-777007124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-okada-manila","tag-universal-entertainment-corporation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777007124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777007124"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777007124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777007143,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777007124\/revisions\/777007143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777007124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777007124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777007124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}