Former trade minister and businessman Roberto Ongpin agreed to sell his entire stake in gaming company PhilWeb Corp. to businessman Gregorio Araneta for P2 billion.
PhilWeb said in a disclosure to the stock exchange RVO Group of Companies, the holding firm of Ongpin, concluded a sale and purchase agreement with Gregorio Araneta Inc.
The transaction involves RVO’s 771,651,896 million shares, equivalent to 53.76 percent of PhilWeb at a price of P2.60 per share.
The buying price is a huge discount to PhilWeb’s closing price of P6.22 per share on Wednesday. The transaction will be done in two tranches.
The first tranche of 653,151,896 shares is to be completed through a special block sale, for approval by the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The second tranche will consist of 118,500,000 shares consisting of partially paid shares, which are now fully paid but need to be registered for listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
PhilWeb said the second tranche would be scheduled as soon as the registration of the shares at the PSE was completed and would be transacted at the same price as the special block sale for the first tranche.
“After the divestment by the RVO Group of Companies of its stake in PhilWeb is concluded today and after his resignation from PhilWeb in early August, Ongpin will have no further involvement with PhilWeb. Mr. Gregorio Ma. Araneta III has been elected as chairman, and Mr. Dennis Valdes will remain as president,” PhilWeb said.
With the divestment of Ongpin, the new management of PhilWeb will now reapply for the continuation of its license with regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for its nationwide network of eGames cafes.
Ongpin hired KPMG (R. G. Manabat & Co.) as its financial advisor for the transaction.
Ongin, who was named by President Duterte as one of the oligarchs in the country that his administration wanted to destroy, earlier announced plans to sell his entire stake in PhilWeb after Pagcor rejected all his offers just to have the gaming license of the company renewed.
PhilWeb’s gaming license expired on Aug. 10, which resulted in the closure of its 286 operating e-Games cafes across the country, majority of which are owned and operated by independent operators.