Failed attempts to save company
Roberto Ongpin, embattled former chairman of Philippines eGaming firm PhilWeb Corp., has sold his entire majority stake in the company—52.76 percent—to business Gregorio “Greggy” Araneta III for P2 billion (US$41.4 million).
The divestiture came after the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the state-run gaming regulator, rejected PhilWeb’s proposals to renew its operating license.
Araneta is married to Irene Marcos, daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda.
Ongpin’s agreement with Araneta involves more than 771 million shares priced at P2.60 apiece, according to Rappler.com, representing a discount on PhilWeb shares’ closing price of P6.22 each.
When Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte took office last summer, he launched an all-out war on e-Gaming in general and PhilWeb in particular, and reserved much of his ire for Roberto Ongpin, former ministry of trade and industry under Marcos.
Duterte called the 79-year-old billionaire “an oligarch” who deserved to be destroyed. After the inflammatory comments, Ongpin resigned from the PhilWeb board and took extraordinary steps to try to save the company, which was denied renewal of its license by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. First Ongpin announced he would sell his stake in the company if PAGCOR would reconsider. Then he offered to donate them to the regulatory body if it would allow the company to continue.
Ongpin’s exit can’t come soon enough for PhilWeb President Dennis Valdes. He wants the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission to hasten the sale of Ongpin’s shares so the company can resume discussions with PAGCOR about restarting its operations. PhilWeb once operated a network of 286 e-Gaming cafes.
A delay “would further damage the network of e-Games operators and the 5,000 employees of that network, which has been shut down for two months now,” Valdes said.
Meanwhile, the regulator has received 76 bids for offshore gaming licenses since it started accepting applications in mid-September, reported GGRAsia. PAGCOR chief Andrea Domingo said the body expects to award licenses starting this month, starting with 25 initial licenses, each with a one-year term. The service providers will be known as a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
According to CalvinAyre.com, PAGCOR spokesman Arnell Ignacio said the regulator “will open it up to more people but only under very stringent measures.”
