MANILA, Philippines; 4 February 2011 — IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. (“E-Games” or the “Company”), the publicly listed online gaming subsidiary of the listed technology conglomerate, IPVG Corp. (PSE: IP), is listing new shares through its currently concluded 4:1 rights offering (the “Rights Offering”). Pursuant to the Rights Offering, a maximum of 134,182,218 common shares were issued at a price of P1.00 per share. After the Rights Offering, the Company will have approximately 167.7 million outstanding capital stock.
The offer period to stockholders ran from January 24-31 of this year. The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved the listing of the SRO shares, which is scheduled today, February 4. At the end of the offer period, the rights issue was oversubscribed by nearly 4 million shares. Proceeds of the Rights Offering will be used to finance Company acquisitions, for working capital, and new games.
As a sign of the major shareholder’s commitment to the company, IPVG Corp. and IPE Global’s shares, which represent over 91% of the outstanding stock of the company (inclusive of rights shares), are considered shares owned by controlling shareholders, which are not for sale in the market.
Enrique Y. Gonzalez, CEO of E-Games comments that, “The successful rights offering results in a large infusion of capital into the Company which we plan to use for acquisitions. We are looking to grow shareholder value substantially this year.”
E-Games is one of the leading online game publishers in the country, offering a portfolio of online games consisting of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games or MMORPGs, and casual online games. The Company publishes top MMORPGs such as: Ran Online, Cabal Online, and recently launched, Dragonica. E-Games also has a strategic partnership with GMA7 to publish its casual online games such as Bandmaster, Superstar, and Operation7.
In December of 2010, the Company signed a share purchase agreement with ePLDT to acquire the latter’s 75% stake in Digital Paradise Inc. (“Digital Paradise”). Digital Paradise operates the Netopia brand of Internet cafes, the largest chain of Internet cafes in the Philippines. Netopia currently has a network of 105 cafes nationwide.
The Company is looking to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in August or September of 2011 in order to further fund the Company’s expansion plans.