iVantage gains controlling interest in WS Fiesta Online

iVantage Corp., a publicly-listed investment management company, has gained control of Internet consulting firm WS Fiesta Online Corp. via the purchase of an additional 40-percent stake in the company.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, iVintage corporate secretary A. Bayani K. Tan said the company had subscribed to an additional 80,000 common shares of WS Fiesta for P8 million, thereby increasing its interest to 60 percent from only 20 percent.

With the purchase, the company now owns 96,000 shares of WS Fiesta’s outstanding capital stock of 160,000 shares. Tan said the additional shares were taken from WS Fiesta’s remaining unsubscribed shares.

Formerly the holding firm Vantage Equities, iVantage has recently shifted its focus on information technology and is now being run by a new set of directors which includes Asia United Bank chairman Jacinto Ng and SM Group’s Hans T. Sy.

In line with its strategy to focus on the Internet business, iVantage has sold a number of non-information technology (IT) related assets.

It sold four firms to Wealth Securities Inc. for P65.11 million. These include Philequity Management, Inc. (MPI); Vantage PSE Index Fund, Inc.; Vantage Money Market Fund, Inc.: and Vantage Dollar Income Fund, Inc.

iVintage earlier said it was finalizing negotiations with a number of local IT firms with international presence for possible acquisitions.

Aside from acquisitions of start-up IT firms, the company is also on the lookout for new partners and investors as part of initial initiatives in the emerging new economy.