Tiger Resort Asia Limited (TRAL) has divested its majority stake in publicly-listed Asiabest Group International Inc. (ABG), dashing hopes for the backdoor listing and follow-on offering of integrated resort Okada Manila.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), ABG stated, “We were informed by our major stockholder, Tiger Resort Asia Limited, which owns 66.67 percent of the total outstanding capital stock of Asiabest Group International, Inc., that it had entered into a share purchase agreement with a consortium led by PremiumLands Corp. (PLC) today, Dec. 5, 2024.”
The agreement is for the sale and purchase of 200 million common shares of ABG, representing all shares owned by TRAL in ABG. The 200 million ABG shares were sold for P510.4 million or P2.552 per share.
TRAL's parent company Universal Entertainment Corporation disclosed in Japan that, "The purpose of the acquisition of ABG was to list another sub-subsidiary of the Company, Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc. on Philippine Stock Exchange.
"Meanwhile, 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 have judged that the necessity of ABG 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. "
Due to the change in control of ABG, the PSE has ordered an indefinite trading halt on the company's shares starting at 9:30 a.m. on December 6, 2024, pending regulatory evaluation of the transaction.
According to its website, Premiumlands is a real estate company that develops projects in high-potential locations across the country, under the Premium Infinite Ventures Inc. (PIVI) Group. Its vision is to be a world-class, full-line developer of premium projects across residential, commercial, office, industrial, and leisure sectors.
PLC began with the acquisition of The Mondrian office building in Makati City, followed by its maiden development, PMI Tower, in the same location. It also developed Market Mall in Ormoc City. Upcoming developments include affordable residential projects under Kabalayan, providing quality and secure homes to Filipino families.
Premium Infinite Ventures Inc. (PIVI) is a Filipino-owned group of companies with roots in the entrepreneurial endeavors of the Chua family of Ormoc, Leyte.
In February 2019, acquired its 66.67 percent stake in ABG, despite attempts by its former Chairman Kazuo Okada to derail it, via special block sale.”
The shares were acquired from Sunplaza Development Corporation (32.69 percent of ABG), Vittorio Paulo Lim (18.82 percent), and public shareholders (27.87 percent) for a total of P646.5 million or P3.2325 per share.
Tiger is currently the majority shareholder of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Okada Manila.
In January 2019, casino magnate Kazuo Okada asked the PSE to deny, or at least defer, the block sale, which was initially planned to be part of the backdoor listing of Tiger. The opposition to the backdoor listing stemmed from an ownership dispute over Tiger Resort and the rest of the Okada Companies at that time.