Premiere Entertainment eyes property business

Publicly-listed Premiere Entertainment Philippines (PEP) has formed four new subsidiaries in line with its bid to enter the local real estate and property development business.

In a statement, PEP said one unit, PEP Metro Leisure, will establish a leisure and entertainment complex in Metro Manila and “engage in and carry on the business of hotel and resort development.” 

PEP Olango Estate, meanwhile, will develop a real estate project in Cebu while PEP QC Estate will go into property development in Quezon City.

Also created was PEP Administracio, which will manage the real estate projects of PEP.

PEP also revealed plans to list its Korean Depository Receipts (KDRs) in the KOSDAQ market division of the main board division of the Korea Exchange (KRX).

PEP likewise announced it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Parthenon and Pookok LL Co. Ltd. that will allow the conduct of due diligence and audit between the parties.

Upon favorable due diligence results and findings, the parties shall enter into definitive agreements or contracts to establish their business relationship.

Parthenon is a company engaged in the business of tours and amusement centers. Pookok is the majority and controlling shareholder of Parthenon with approximately 97 percent of its outstanding capital stock.

Last year, PEP signed a deal to acquire online gambling software developer Digiwave Solutions through a share swap. The deal calls for the issuance of about 1.003 billion PEP shares in exchange for 100-percent ownership of Digiwave amounting to P50 million.

“The share swap is anchored on Digiwave’s projected net income for the year ending Dec. 31, 2008 valued at P125.499 million given a P/E multiple of eight times,” the company said.

The selling shareholders of Digiwave had agreed to invest P150 million in cash.

PEP is engaged in entertainment, gaming and leisure activities. Chaired by movie producer Cirio Santiago, it produces full-length motion pictures and program content for free television, cable broadcast and video distribution. A subsidiary, Premium Events Palace is involved in bingo parlor operations.

Digiwave, one of the leading online gaming and software development companies in the Philippines,  is an entertainment and IT company founded in 2006. Its principal business is software development and provision, mainly for leisure gaming. The company uses South Korean technology and a Filipino workforce, and is looking to expand internationally.

Digiwave is currently the second-biggest supplier of gaming stations in the Philippines through the facilities of PhilWeb Corp.

The company has developed two games, “Baduki” and “7-Card Stud” poker, which are available in online gaming branches of the government’s Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. (Pagcor) in Metro Manila. New game releases planned for the future include a version of the popular poker game Texas Hold’em for online gambling.