Video game publisher IP E-Games Ventures Inc. is building up on its plans to expand its portfolio and is considering the route of putting a private placement to a strategic or institutional investor in order to fund its new businesses. Chief among these plans is the building of a new casino at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone.
In a text message to PhilStar.com, E-Games CEO Enrique Gonzales said that the company’s goal is to raise enough money to be able to finance their rather ambitious plans.
Last month, IP E-Games, through its subsidiary RAN Online, Inc., bought a 36,000 square-meter property at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CEZA) for a sum of Php 70-million with the intention of setting up casino operations in the economic zone. The state-of-the-art casino is expected to offer a full range of games, including blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette and slots.
Sensing a growing trend in the Philippines’ emphasis of becoming one of Asia’s premier gambling stops, IP E-Games Venture is determined to get a piece of the pie where it hopes to capitalize on the country’s growing gambling sector. Building a casino at CEZA will give the company a gambling foothold in the area, particularly because the zone is near the soon-to-open Cagayan International Airport, which is expected to cater flights from a number of Asian countries, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Korea.
But more than just its casino plans, IP E-Games has also been proactive in exploring other business opportunities. The company has already acquired a 75% stake in Digital Paradise Inc, who operates Netopia, the Philippines’ largest Intenet cafe brand. Earlier this year, IP E-Games also merged with Level Up! thereby establishing themselves as the largest gaming company in the Philippines that’s responsible for around 70% of the country’s entire market share.
IP E-Games’ intentions appear to be pretty clear, at least as far as one of their more important goals is concerned. In order to build that casino at CEZA, they’re trying to raise enough money to be able to finance it. It’s a risky proposition where there’s a chance for the company to potentially spread itself to thin.
But that pot of gold on the other side of the rainbow is mighty enticing, and one that’s certainly worth the gamble.
No pun intended, of course.
