PhilWeb denies knowledge of PlayTime backdoor play

PhilWeb [WEB 5.09 ?5.7%; 0% avgVol] [link] disclosed it has no knowledge of any discussions with online gaming platform PlayTime, which is reportedly pursuing a backdoor listing. In a 19 September 2025 filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the listed gaming firm clarified a Bilyonaryo report claiming PlayTime had “tapped the brakes” on a planned takeover of  WEB after its share price rally pushed its market capitalization to P7.75 billion. WEB said it “has no knowledge of, nor involvement in, any actions, plans, or undertakings by PlayTime as reported in the referenced news article,” adding there are “no discussions, negotiations, or agreements of any kind” between the two companies.

  MB BOTTOM-LINE:  When a company like Playtime looks around for a backdoor candidate, they are basically screening for cheap, clean corporate shells. If Playtime wants to acquire WEB with full control, it needs to acquire more than 66.6% of its outstanding shares (~960M shares). It wants to spend P2/share, which means it's willing to “spend” about P1.9 billion to get the process started. But WEB hasn’t been worth just P2/share since June. It’s now ~P5/share, which means that Playtime would now need to spend about P4.8 billion. So did all of the insiders who piled into WEB, driving up its price, actually ruin the opportunity? Maybe! But it’s also possible that Playtime’s hesitance has more to do with the shifting nature of its e-gaming market. It’s probably no coincidence that Playtime’s preferred WEB price comes from a point in time when DigiPlus [PLUS 23.65 ?6.3%; 157% avgVol], Playtime’s rival, was trading at its all-time high? PLUS’s value has fallen by over 60% since that time. Presumably, so has Playtime’s value. Since backdoor listings are usually paid-for using the acquiring company’s shares, this means that Playtime’s value has likely fallen significantly at the same time the thing it needs to buy has risen dramatically.

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