The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The controlling stakes of businessman Roberto V. Ongpin at PhilWeb Corp. was sold to the company of Gregorio Ma. Araneta for about P2 billion, PhilWeb reported to the stock exchange.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), PhilWeb said KPMG (R G Manabat and Co), Ongpin’s financial advisor for the sale, has announced the sale of 771,651,896 or about 53.76 percent share in PhilWeb to Gregorio Araneta Inc.
The shares were sold at P260 apiece, it said. The disclosure said the deal will be implemented in two tranches, the first of which is the special block sale, upon approval of the PSE, of 653,151,896 shares.
The last tranche involves the sale of partially paid shares totaling about 118.5 million.
The report said these shares are “now fully paid but needs to be registered for listing at the PSE.”
“This second tranche is scheduled as soon as the registration of these shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange is completed and will be transacted at the same price as the special block sale for the first tranche,” it said.
Ongpin resigned as PhilWeb’s chairman on Aug. 4, while Araneta was elected chairman and director for the company last Sept. 9. Dennis O. Valdes remains its president. “With the divestment of Ongpin, the new management for PhilWeb will now reapply for the continuation of its license with Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.) for its nationwide network of eGames cafes,” it added. The company’s license lapsed on Aug. 10.
After Pagcor rejected an earlier offer of Ongpin to donate 49 percent of his stake in PhilWeb Corp., the magnate said he will now donate his shares for building drug rehabilitation centers nationwide which was also rejected by the state gaming firm.
On Aug. 17, Ongpin offered to Pagcor majority of his 53.76 stake or about 771 million shares worth around P20 billion in PhilWeb, with the objective to save the jobs and livelihood of some 6,000 people working for the company. In rejecting Ongpin’s donation, Pagcor stated that “the issue is not RVO (Roberto V. Ongpin) or PhilWeb per se. It is the President’s and his government’s opposition to on-line and on-site electronic gaming because of the social ills and decay they foist on our communities as they cater to the more economically vulnerable portion of our population”. “In rejecting my offer to donate 49 percent of my PhilWeb’s shares to Pagcor… I, of course, have no choice but to accept this decision by Pagcor,” Ongpin then said in a letter to Pagcor.
“I hereby amend my donation to be used exclusively for the establishment of a nationwide network of drug rehabilitation centers,” he noted. “I am a firm believer in the President’s drive against the drug menace… While one can agree that gambling is undesirable, nothing could be more pernicious that the drug menace which destroys the very fabric of our youth and our society, and which admirably, the President has chosen as his first priority,” Ongpin said.
Duterte had said that he will “destroy the oligarchs that are embedded in government” and cited PhilWeb’s Ongpin as one of them.Ongpin resigned as chairman and director of the company the day after the President’s statement.
PhilWeb also offered to launch a SMS-based lottery system as part of last ditch efforts to revive its operations amid the government’s crackdown on online gambling. The plan, named PAGCOR Text Bonanza, will be conducted on software to be developed by PhilWeb wherein a chosen lottery number is texted by bettors to PhilWeb/PAGCOR servers through Smart mobile phones.