Son to father: Relinquish Okada control
TOMOHIRO Okada, who controls majority of the shares in Okada Manila, has ordered his father, Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada, to immediately vacate the integrated casino hotel together with his Filipino cohorts.
“I condemn and disown the acts of my father Kazuo and his Filipino and Japanese cohorts in Okada Manila. Their perversion of the law must be put to an end,” Tomohiro said in a statement in reaction to Kazuo’s takeover of the integrated resort on May 31.
In 2017, Tomohiro, who then only held 43.48 percent of the shares of Okada Holdings Ltd. (OHL), signed a “trust agreement”‘ with his sister Hiromi, who then held 9.78 percent of the shares in OHL granting Tomohiro control over Hiromi’s shareholding.
The trust agreement is legally binding for 30 years. This means that Kazuo cannot regain control over the company for three decades unless Tomohiro sells his shares or rescinds the agreement.
The Japanese Supreme Court already ruled with finality that Tomohiro rightfully controls the voting rights of 53.27 percent of OHL, the parent company, while the rest are held by his father Kazuo. This ruling settled the issue in an intra-corporate dispute filed by Tomohiro’s sister, Hiromi.