Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Netopia Sold To E-Games

IP E-Game Ventures Inc., also known as E-Games, has acquired seventy-five (75%) percent of Digital Paradise Inc. (DPI), owner of the Netopia chain of Internet cafes, from ePLDT, a subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT Co.). The transaction involved 97.56 million shares amounting to PhP145 million in cash and funded through a combination of debt and equity. E-Games said it expects the acquisition to boost its revenues and increase customer base.

Netopia has 71 company-owned and 34 franchised branches nationwide. The i-café chain serves over 1.5 million customers monthly, majority of which are gamers. E-Games officials said about 70 percent of their user base play games in Internet cafes and the Netopia chain will become a critical marketing tool for the gaming company.

They added that active promotion of E-Games content at Netopia outlets will also help drive up revenues for E-Games as the company looks to increase its customer base through Netopia customers. E-Games officials also said that the current operations of Netopia will add over P300 million in its revenues which will have a positive effect on the company's bottom line.

Aside from online gaming, Netopia has a broad customer base that includes large corporate customers for their training, recruitment, and advertising needs. Netopia also serves retail customers’ surfing, digital printing and electronic load needs.

In the past, Netopia has been spending about P25 million yearly for the upgrade of its computers from internally generated cash. The number of Netopia outlets dropped from 145 in 2009 because some could not afford to upgrade their computers yearly. For its business, E-Games ranks as the leading online games publisher in the Philippines. As of end 2009, E-Games subscribers stood at 11 million, of which 3.5 million were active, playing online two to three times a month.

1 comment:

  1. i have been reading the contents of your website and i have a question. i really don't know what is the relationship of the contents and that of the internet cafe industry in the Philippines?

    ReplyDelete

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