Singapore firm to acquire 20% of IPVG IT unit

Information technology and gaming conglomerate IPVG Corp. has executed an option and partnership agreement with Singapore-based investment firm Elchemi Assets for the acquisition of at least 20 percent of Viridiem, IPVG’s new holding company for all its IT-related businesses.

IPVG said the investment is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter this year, with Elchemi making an initial goodwill deposit of $500,000 in the first week of February.

Elchemi manages and operates its portfolio companies out of satellite offices in China, Dubai, Taiwan and the Philippines. It focuses on sectors in which it has demonstrated expertise: real estate, information communication, engineering, public infrastructure and investments in capital markets.

Viridiem, on the other hand, will provide information technology infrastructure and services to enterprises across Asia in the most ecologically sound way.

“The company intends to lead the thinking and the deployment of energy efficient computing resources. The very name Viridiem, which loosely translates to ‘GreenDay” in Latin, highlights the company’s intent in this area,” IPVG said.

As the first phase of a modern expansion of its IT business in the Southeast Asia region, Viridiem will build a 10,000-square meter facility slated to be operational at the start of the third quarter of 2009. “ This will be the most modern Tier 3+ purpose build data center in Southeast Asia and will cater to the needs of corporations who take energy conservation seriously,” IPVG said.

Roger Stone, deputy chairman of IPVG and chief executive officer of Viridiem, said: “It has been estimated that data centers consume in excess of 14 gigawatts of power; and produce as much carbon dioxide as air traffic, but inefficiently, as just one percent of the power entering a data center is actually converted to computing work output. Our initiative in Viridiem is to be first in the market with new efficient technologies and to lead the deployment of environmentally sound data centers.”

Meanwhile, trading in shares of IPVG will resume tomorrow after the IT and gaming firm failed to justify the continued trading suspension of its shares.

IPVG had requested the lifting of the voluntary trading suspension on or before Feb. 16 pending completion of negotiations with certain parties but this was denied by the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The trading halt, implemented since Oct. 21, 2008, was supposed to take effect only until Oct. 29 but IPVG sought for an extension of the suspension until the negotiations and contemplated transactions have been completed.

IPVG said while it respects the PSE’s decision, it believes that it would be to the best interest of the investing public to have equal access to any information regarding its proposed transactions.