Inside Asian Gaming

IAG NOV 2021年11月 亞博匯 103 26-50 REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT Universal Entertainment Corp 代表董事及總裁 環球娛樂 CLAIMS TO FAME 名成事跡 POWER SCORE 權能指數: 721 POSITION LAST YEAR 去年排名: 32 Heads only Japanese company to operate its own integrated resort Deposed Universal’s founder, Kazuo Okada, in 2017 • • • • 執掌唯一一家自己經營綜合度假村的日本企業 2017年罷免了環球娛樂的創始人岡田和生 37 JUN FUJIMOTO WHILE OTHER Asian land-based gaming executives are licking their wounds over lost opportunities to enter the Japanese market, Okada Manila’s boss Jun Fujimoto isn’t looking back. Last month Okada Manila owner and Universal subsidiary Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc announced an American Depository Receipt listing on the Nasdaq following a reverse merger with Miami-based 26 Capital Acquisition Corp. The listing anticipates a US$275 million fundraising target, useful indeed for closing in on completion of the Philippines’ largest casino resort. With the Philippines pressing to open up more quickly after nearly two years of pandemic torment, the timing could hardly be better. And like Singapore, the Philippines comes ready made with a formidable domestic mass market to insulate land-based operations from Chinese government pressure and uncertain recovery of international travel. Fujimoto’s power play against his former boss Kazuo Okada is legally done and dusted thanks to recent Japanese court dismissals of Okada’s appeals, leaving the usurper — or savior, depending on your point of view — with an open road to take Universal Entertainment on a growth trajectory even as its traditional pachinko stomping ground declines. Every industry needs success stories, however strained. Universal Entertainment’s saga of warfare between Kazuo Okada and Steve Wynn over the Philippine project, followed by Okada’s and Wynn’s dethronings on their home turf, has somehow given birth to what will likely be one of the world’s most lucrative post- pandemic casinos. 富士本淳 當亞洲 其他實體博企的管理層還在為失去進入日本市場的機會而頓足搓胸 時，岡田馬尼拉的掌門人富士本淳已經一騎絕塵。 上月，岡田馬尼拉的所有者、環球娛樂子公司Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc宣佈將通過與總部位於邁阿密的26 Capital Acquisition Corp合併的方式在美國納斯達克上市。此次上市預計將籌集 資金2.75億美元，將有助於目前在建的菲律賓最大的綜合度假村完工。 在歷經近兩年的新冠疫情的折磨之後，菲律賓亟需更快地打開國門， 時機再好不過了。與新加坡一樣，菲律賓擁有強大的國內中場市場，可令 實體博彩業務免受中國政府的壓力及不確定的國際旅遊復甦的影響。 在近期日本法院駁回岡田和生的上訴之後，富士本淳與其前老闆的權 力之爭已經在法律上塵埃落定，為這位篡位者或救世主——取決於你的觀 點——留下一馬平川，令其即使在傳統彈珠機業務衰落的情況下，也能將 環球娛樂帶入增長軌道。 每一行都需要成功的故事，無論過程有多崎嶇。岡田和生和史蒂芬· 永利在環球娛樂這個菲律賓項目上的短兵相接和隨後兩人各自被自己的公 司下野，在某正程度上催生了可能是疫情後全球最賺錢的娛樂場之一。