Businessman Roberto Ongpin on Friday completed his divestment from PhilWeb Corp., a gaming company listed in the stock exchange.
PhilWeb said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Ongpin sold 118.5 million shares in the company to Gregorio Araneta III Holdings Inc. of businessman Gregorio Araneta at a price of P2.60 per share. The transaction represented the second and final tranche of the sale of Ongpin’s full holdings to GA Inc.
GA Inc now owns 54.75 percent of PhilWeb.
“The two transactions selling Mr. Ongpin’s shares to GA Inc. mark the culmination of the exit of Mr. Ongpin from the company, a process started last August 4, 2016 when he resigned as chairman, continued as he negotiated a sale of his entire shareholdings in the company to Mr. Araneta, and which were concluded today with the completion of the second and final tranche of the sale,” PhilWeb said.
Ongpin was forced to sell his Philippine gaming assets after President Rodrigo Duterte targeted him in a crackdown on online gaming.
Meanwhile, PhilWeb said the entry of Araneta into PhilWeb marked a new beginning for the company.
“On behalf of the board of directors of PhilWeb, I would like to thank Mr. Ongpin for his unparalleled contributions to the company since its inception on January 18, 2000. Over the past 17 years, WEB consistently delivered value to all its shareholders, and it was under Mr. Ongpin’s stewardship that the company became the largest and most profitable provider of IT technology in the country,” Araneta said.
“We expect to rebuild PhilWeb’s revenues by renewing our efforts in gaming services and increasing our focus into other areas in gaming,” he added.
GA Inc. is a company founded in 1931 to manage the business interests of renowned lawyer Don Gregorio Araneta. Today, the company is headed by the founder’s grandson and namesake, Gregorio Araneta III.
GA Inc. is a holding company engaged in real estate, transportation, telecommunication, security and protection services, environmental protection and other businesses.
Its projects include the largest solar energy farm in the country, a 132.5-megawatt facility in Cadiz, Negros Occidental, a joint venture with the solar energy firm Soleq.
Ongpin, who was named by President Duterte as one of the oligarchs in the country that his administration wanted to destroy, decided to sell its entire stake in PhilWeb to Araneta for P2 billion, after the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. rejected all his offers just to have the gaming license of the company renewed.
PhilWeb’s gaming license expired in August, resulting in the closure of 286 operating e-Games cafes across the country, majority of which are owned and operated by independent operators.