E-Games, Level Up! to Merge Game Publishing Businesses
Makati–(PHStocks)–IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (PSE: EG) and Level Up! Inc. (LUI) have reached an agreement to merge their Philippine online game publishing businesses.
In accordance with the agreement, most of E-Games titles and assets relating to its game publishing business will be transferred to LUI and and the publishing operations of said titles will be merged into LUI’s associated online game publishing company, Playweb Games Inc., and a cash consideration. The completion of the deal is subject to closing conditions.
E-Games is the first listed online gaming company in the Philippines and is the only such listed company to date. It spearheaded the free-to-play game model and has over 15.9 million registered gamers and an average of 3.5 million active users per month. It is aggressively expanding its Internet cafe network through acquisitions (Netopia and CyBr cafes) and franchising and franchising, and will incorporate services such as food and beverage and remittance services. Recently, E-Games has acquired the rights to operate and sell advertisements for the NBA.com Philippine portal. It is currently developing game enhancement technologies between its internet cafes and online games titles and is eager to extend these synergies with LUI online games.
LUI pioneered the online game business in the Philippines. Its parent company, Level Up! International Holdings (LUIH), has a subsidiary in Brazil, which likewise pioneered and leads the online game publishing business there. Aside from its presence in the Philippines and Brazil, LUIH also has a joint venture in the United States with an established South Korean developer.
E-Games and LUI, as a merged identity, are expected to account for the majority of the Philippine online games market. The merged entity and its associated company, Playweb Games Inc., will have the widest gaming prepaid cards and PINs distribution network, and offer a portfolio of hugely popular and successful games between them. These include top Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) such as Cabal, Audition, Pointblank, Ragnarok, Grand Chase, Rohan, and newly launched (by LUI) Bounty Hounds.
The merger is expected to strategically benefit both companies as a result of future operational synergies and savings.