Premiere Entertainment to raise P150 million via private placement

MANILA, Philippines - Premiere Entertainment Productions Inc. (PEP), a publicly-listed gaming and entertainment firm, is hoping to raise up to P150 million through a private placement to fund its foray into the mineral resources and energy space as it aims to capitalize on the soaring demand for these services.

In an interview, PEP chairman Augusto A. Serafica Jr. said the company is keenly interested in investing in the mining and energy sectors as prices of base metals, energy products and precious metals continuously go up.

PEP, which is owned by a group of low-key Filipino investors, is also looking to utilize internally-generated cash as well as secure debt of up to P30 million to roll out more Pagcor E-game stations or PEGS, Serafica said.

The company is hoping to end the year with a total of 12 PEGS from the existing nine.

Serafica said PEP would undertake private placements and/or a rights offering once the corporate restructuring is completed. 

Investment house Asian Alliance Corp., a shareholder of PEP, is committed to actively help out in PEP’s transformation, Serafica said.

PEP is engaged in various types of entertainment, including gaming and online casino operations. Starting as a production house in 1946, it produced full-length motion pictures and program content for television broadcast.

A merger with Digiwave Solutions Inc. in 2008 converged the company’s business focus on entertainment with the growing Internet casino gaming and software development.

Serafica said the group’s gaming business has improved significantly, posting a net income of P717,808 in the first half this year or a reversal of the P34.58 million loss incurred the previous level on higher gaming revenues.