IPVG online gaming unit eyes P134M from stock rights offering next month

MANILA, Philippines –  IP E-Game Ventures Inc., the online gaming unit of listed technology conglomerate IPVG Corp., is raising P134 million through a stock rights offering in January next year.

The company obtained Wednesday the Philippine Stock Exchange’s approval to proceed with its planned rights issue.

Ricardo F. Lagdameo, the company’s head of corporate finance and investor relations said they would issue a total of 134 million shares at par value of P1. Shareholders are entitled to buy four shares for every share held as of Jan. 3, 2011.

Lagdameo said the offering will be held from Jan. 24 to 31 while the listing of the shares is targeted on Feb. 3.

IPVG chief executive officer Enrique Y. Gonzalez said the rights issue is the company’s way of thanking valuable shareholders as the shares will be sold at a very steep discount.

Shares of IP E-Games closed at P58 yesterday, down three percent from the previous close of P60.

 Gonzalez said the company would use proceeds from the offering to continue growing its business and fund an acquisition. “We’re looking to acquire a new business,” he said.

IP E-Games recently raised its authorized capitalization to P350 million from P100 million in preparation for an eventual initial public offering (IPO) as mandated by the securities law.

It became a public company in February when it listed some 33.5 million shares by way of introduction. Companies that list by way of introduction are required to conduct a public offering within one year from listing.

Incorporated in 2005, IP E-Games is a leading online game publishers in the Philippines offering the widest selection of games for casual gamers to core enthusiasts. Its flagship game, RAN Online, a campus-based massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is the leading online game today. It also publishes Cabal Online which garnered a phenomenal 60,000 CCU (concurrent users) two weeks after it was launched.

MMORPGs allow a large number of players to interact with one another over the Internet in a virtual world.

The company pioneered the free-to-play business model, wherein gamers are not required to pay a subscription fee to play online games.

IP E-Games remains one of IPVG’s most solid revenue performers, contributing P242.08 million or 17 percent of IPVG’s total top line in 2009.

Among the gaming titles launched by the company this year were Superstar, a singing game similar to Singstar for the Sony PlayStation 3, and Dragonica, the first eight-way 3D side scrolling online adventure game.

IP E-Games is the first Philippine online game company to release triple A titles such as Granado Espada which earned the Presidential Award for the best Korean game in 2006. Aside from Granado Espada, the company has also launched Runes of Magic, the award-winning high-fantasy MMORPG.

The company has 28 main distributors with a network spanning approximately 20,000 outlets such as Internet cafes, independent kiosks, mini-carts and computer shops.