Philweb appeals to SEC

Gaming technology service provider Philweb Corp. has appealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow the P2-billion block sale of founder Roberto V. Ongpin’s 53.76-percent stake to businessman Gregorio Ma. Araneta III to be executed ahead of the mandatory tender offering to minority shareholders.

“Mr. Araneta is willing to do the tender offer, but it is in everyone’s interest to have the block sale proceed now instead of after, because requiring the tender offer to be done first will only delay Mr. Ongpin’s exit from PhilWeb by at least another month,” Philweb president Dennis Valdes said in a statement.

As such, Valdes said he believed the SEC should allow the block sale of Ongpin’s shares to the Araneta group to proceed ahead of the tender offer.

The deal involves the sale of Ongpin’s 771.65 million shares in Philweb at P2.60 per share.

Valdes expressed concern that further delay in Ongpin’s exit from PhilWeb might delay the company’s discussions with Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) regarding the reissuance of the PhilWeb license to operate a network of 286 e-games cafes or internet cafes exclusively dedicated to casino games including baccarat, blackjack, various slot machine games, video poker and others.

“This would further damage the network of eGames operators and the 5,000 employees of that network, which has been shut down for two months now,” Valdes said.

The network was operated by Philweb under a service agreement that lapsed on Aug. 10 and was not renewed by Pagcor. This was especially as Ongpin had been identified by President Duterte himself as an “oligarch” whom he would like to bring down.

Ongpin’s exit is thus seen as imperative for Philweb, which trades at the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker WEB, to resume its normal course of business. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla