Philweb expanding operations, enters into P730-M acquisition deals

Gaming technology provider Philweb Corp. is spending P730 million to take over 16 electronic bingo (e-bingo) operators and two e-bingo machine suppliers as part of its thrust to scale up its electronic gaming business.

Trading on Philweb shares was suspended at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday pending the submission of a more comprehensive disclosure on these transactions, in line with the rules on substantial acquisitions.

Since businessman Gregorio Araneta gained a controlling stake in Philweb in late 2016, the company has diversified into the e-bingo business, gaining additional revenue from e-bingo outlets and a network of over a thousand e-bingo machines throughout the country.

On March 8, PhilWeb executed with the Palmary group a deal to acquire all the issued capital stocks of 16 e-bingo firms for P450 million and two accredited e-bingo machine suppliers for P280 million.

The said e-bingo outlets posted a combined gross gaming revenue of about P1.2 billion in 2019, while the two accredited e-bingo machine suppliers recorded combined gross gaming revenue of P364.9 million in the same year.

“With PhilWeb’s growing electronic games business, it now has an expanding, two-fold footprint in the whole electronic gaming sector,” Philweb said. INQ