IP E-Games gets okay for PSE listing

MANILA, Philippines - Leading online gaming publisher IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (IP E-Games), a subsidiary of publicly listed technology firm IPVG Corp., has secured approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for the initial listing by way of introduction of 33,545,554 common shares, under the second board of the Exchange, at an indicative reference opening price of P50.00 per share.

IP E-Games chief executive officer Enrique Y. Gonzalez said: “We are thrilled with the approval of the listing of our Company. We will be the first publicly listed online games publisher in the country and this marks a new phase in the growth of our organization.”

“With our access to the capital markets, we are well positioned to further grow the company by continuously investing in our content pipeline and publishing infrastructure. We hope to attract our gaming community to participate in the stock market,” Gonzalez adds.

“Due to the dynamism of the online games industry, we believe our company will be an extremely exciting share issue for the investing public to watch and track,” Gonzalez said.

Listing by way of introduction involves the listing and trading of a company’s shares at the stock market without going through an initial public offering (IPO). However, the Philippine Stock Exchange requires companies who list in compliance with the legal requirement to conduct a public offering and comply with the minimum public ownership requirement within one year from listing.

IP E-Games, by virtue of being a firm registered with the Board of Investments, and being certified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue as not being a closely held corporation, qualifies to list its shares by way of introduction.

IP E-Game Ventures Inc., was incorporated on Nov. 22, 2005 primarily to engage in the business of interactive gaming and content distribution. It is the online gaming subsidiary of IPVG Corp.

The company is one of the leading online game publishers in the Philippines. It offers a portfolio of online games including massively multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs, and casual online games. The company pioneered the free-to-play business model, wherein gamers are not required to pay a subscription fee to play online games. Gamers are given the option of purchasing “in-game items” to enhance their gaming experience. The company sells its virtual currency (e-Points) that is used to purchase these in-game items.