PhilWeb kicks off plan to buy e-Games stations

MANILA, Philippines -  PhilWeb Corp. will acquire additional e-Games stations from existing operators, hopeful the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) will renew its license soon.

Chaired by businessman Gregorio Araneta III, PhilWeb has not been operating since Aug. 10, 2016 when its license expired. Araneta bought the majority stake of Roberto Ongpin after President Duterte singled out Ongpin as an “oligarch who must be destroyed.”

 Dennis Valdes, president of PhilWeb, said the company remains hopeful it will get a new gaming license soon.

“We continue to be bullish that we will be able to renew our license with Pagcor at some time in the near future so the expansion of our BigGame outlets will be part of our long term strategy,” Valdes said.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), PhilWeb said it plans to acquire 15 Pagcor e-Games stations from existing independent operators using a total of up to 7.5 million company shares it is currently holding in treasury as payment.

“We wish to support those operators that we have worked with over the past 14 years. We are offering them an ability to exit by selling us their businesses in exchange for Web shares,” Valdes said.

 Since last year, PhilWeb has been negotiating with Pagcor for the renewal of its license. In response, Pagcor said it was expediting the process but clarified it would have to bid out the service contract for its online gaming operations, particularly for the e-Games network instead of automatically awarding this to PhilWeb.

Pagcor said the renewal of PhilWeb’s intellectual property licensing and management agreement (IPLMA) as provider of the so-called e-Games network would now have to go through competitive bidding in accordance with Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

PhilWeb is behind the e-Games network, comprised of Internet cafes exclusively dedicated to casino games. With technology provided by PhilWeb, patrons can choose from more than 300 casino games, including baccarat, blackjack, various slot machine games, video poker and sports betting.

Data from Pagcor showed gross gaming revenues from electronic games dipped to P721 million in the third quarter of 2016 from P1.47 billion the previous year.