PHILWEB CORP. has acquired 16 electronic bingo (eBingo) outlets and two eBingo machine suppliers, which are expected to expand the portfolio of the gaming service provider.
The company told the stock exchange on Tuesday that it executed the deeds of sale for the acquisition of 100% of the total issued capital stocks of the eBingo companies for P450 million and the two accredited eBingo machine suppliers for P280 million.
“[PhilWeb’s electronic games business] now has an expanding, two-fold footprint in the whole electronic gaming sector,” the company said.
It said the companies were acquired from the Palmary Group. It also said the deeds of sale were done on March 8.
Because of the acquisition, trading of PhilWeb shares at the stock exchange has been suspended starting 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9.
The company’s shares last traded on Monday, closing at P2.70 apiece.
Trading of PhilWeb shares will resume once the company has submitted a disclosure requirement under the Rule on Disclosure for Substantial Acquisitions and Reverse Takeovers, under Section 5, Article VII of the Consolidated Listing and Disclosure Rules of the exchange.
Entities that acquire an interest of more than 10% in an unlisted company or more than the total book value of the issuer will be suspended from trading “until the terms and conditions of the transaction, and the details pertaining to the business or project acquired are actually disclosed and, if applicable, the latest audited financial statements of the unlisted company, are submitted.”
The 16 eBingo outlets generated a combined P1.2 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2019, PhilWeb said.
Meanwhile, the two eBingo machine supplier companies made P364.9 million in the same year, it added. The two will further expand PhilWeb’s business to eBingo outlets, as both are accredited suppliers to a client network of 64 Philippines-based eBingo outlets.
PhilWeb is accredited by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and is a service provider to a total of 85 eGames outlets.
The company’s wholly owned subsidiary BigGame, Inc. directly operates 31 authorized eGames outlets.
PhilWeb’s Easy eBingo also has gaming licenses for eBingo outlets. After the acquisition, the eBingo outlets it will be handling will reach 22. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte