IP E-Game to unload stake in Level Up!

MANILA, Philippines - IP E-Game Ventures Inc. plans to unload its minority stake in the Philippines’ largest online games publisher and distributor.

In a regulatory filing, IP E-Game said its its board of directors “discussed an offer from Asiasoft Corp. Public Co. Ltd. to acquire the corporation’s shares of stock of Level Up! Inc.”

IP E-Game owns 30 percent of Level Up!, the company behind online multiplayer games such as Ragnarok, Cabal, Audition Dance Battle, Ran, Flyff and Assault Fire.

“The president of [IP E-Game] signified the corporation’s intent to accept the offer made by Asiasoft to acquire all of the company’s shares of stock of Level Up!,” the listed firm said.

Early this month, Asiasoft offered to buy 30 percent of Level Up! for $2.94 million to increase its ownership to around 70 percent.

Thai firm Asiasoft is a leading online game operator in Southeast Asia, with market dominance in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. It is also expanding its presence in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

So far, it has 61 interactive online games from all over the world, with more than 70 million registered users. It distributes multiplayer online role playing games (Atlantica, Maple Story, Rohan, Monster Forest and Aika), casual games (Pangya, Free Style and Giga Slave) and first-person shooters (Sudden Attack and Counter Strike Online).

In 2012, E-Game Ventures Inc. and Level Up! completed the merger of their Philippine online game publishing businesses, a move that will allow them to take advantage of the growing online gaming market.