Xurpas plans IPO for mobile gaming unit Xeleb

Xurpas president Raymond Racaza and chair Nix Nolledo in a press chat on Friday

TECHNOLOGY firm Xurpas Inc. has unveiled plans to bring celebrity gaming subsidiary Xeleb Technologies Inc. to public hands possibly within the next 12 months, pitching to investors a play on celebrity content for mobile consumers.

The board of Xurpas approved a plan by Xeleb Technologies to apply for an initial public offering (IPO) and list on the small, medium and emerging (SME) board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The group is currently in the process of securing approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission for the change of its corporate name from Fluxion Inc. to Xeleb Technologies. Xurpas owns 67 percent of Xeleb Technologies which in turn owns 100 percent of Xeleb Inc., a start-up company that develops mobile games that ride on the individual brand equity of celebrities like popular actress and social media darling Anne Curtis.

In a briefing on Friday, Xurpas chair and chief executive officer Nix Nolledo said the IPO plan had not been finalized yet but the internal target would be to undertake the stock debut in the next 12 months.

Xurpas intends to keep a controlling stake in Xeleb Technologies post-IPO.

The remaining 33 percent stake in Xeleb Technologies is owned by Curtis and three other celebrities: actress/host and ramp model Isabelle Daza, broadcaster Kim Atienza and celebrity chef/entrepreneur Erwan Heussaff.

Xeleb rides on two very successful megatrends: the rise of celebrities as a media force and the boom in casual gaming globally. It was inspired by the runaway success of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, a mobile game whose record-setting success created an entirely new genre in casual games.