CLAIMS TO FAME
- Former Deutsche Bank and Union Gaming investment banker
On the surface, Byron Yip appears to have spent much of his time fighting off legal challenges from those looking to gain control of the integrated resort he oversees, Okada Manila.
The first of those global headlines came last year when a group representing the former Chairman of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Corp (TRLEI), Kazuo Okada, stormed the Philippines integrated resort and took control, claiming a recently issued court order gave them the right to do so. It took three months and an order from regulator PAGCOR to seize back control.
More recently, the company found itself at war with a former partner over a stalled merger that would have seen Okada Manila’s operating entities listed on the NASDAQ. When TRLEI’s merger partner, US-based Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) 26 Capital, cried foul over the allegedly slow progress of the deal, the merger was abandoned and a Delaware court ruled there was no requirement for merger plans to proceed.
That leaves Yip free to focus on the task at hand: challenging Manila rival Solaire for the title of Entertainment City’s market share leader. There is still some way to go, but Okada Manila continues to climb with 1H23 gaming revenues reaching US$421 million. The company recently outlined plans to expand its marketing presence both domestically and internationally in its bid to further grow market share.
For the full list of 2023 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
