Asiasoft Corporation's acquisition of Level Up! Inc.
In March 2014, Thailand-based tech holding company Asiasoft Corporation fully acquired the Philippine live service gaming publisher Level Up! Inc.
In the deal, Asiasoft bought a 70% stake from Level Up! International Holdings Pte. Ltd. and 30% stake from IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. on Level Up! Inc., totaling 100% ownership, for US$4.2 million.
Both the Level Up! and the E-Games brandings were used for a few years before being completely phased out in favor of Asiasoft's own PlayPark portal.
Background
By 2014, Level Up! Inc. was the largest live service gaming publisher in the Philippines. It owned the gaming portal Level Up!.
Merger
On February 5, 2014, a report on Thailand's stock exchange revealed that the holding company Asiasoft Corporation bought 70% of the issued and outstanding capital stocks of Level Up! Inc.[doc 1] from its parent company, Level Up! International Holdings Pte. Ltd, for US$2.94 million. According to the report, Level Up! Inc. incurred a net loss of ₱13,458,386 for the year ending in 2012.
On February 10, another report revealed that Asiasoft would be purchasing the remaining 30% from an unnamed Philippine company for US$1.26 million, thereby investing a total of US$4.2 million for 100% ownership of Level Up! Inc.[doc 2] The unnamed shareholder was IP E-Game Ventures Inc.[1], whose minority stake was obtained from its merger with Level Up! Inc. in 2012.
The complete buyout of Level Up! Inc. was confirmed on February 21, 2014.[2]
Aftermath
The Level Up! branding was used in the first few years after the acquisition before eventually being phased out altogether in favor of a unified PlayPark brand.
The yearly Level Up! Live series that was used for national esports tournaments was replaced by PlayPark All-Stars.
PlayWeb Games Inc., the Philippine publisher that operated the live service games of Level Up! Inc., was renamed as PlayPark Inc.
References
- IP E-Game to unload stake in Level Up!. February 11, 2014. Neil Jerome C. Morales. Philstar.com. Retrieved on 2024-03-06.
- Asiasoft PHL confirms buyout of Level-Up Games. February 21, 2014 at 10:45 AM. GMA News reporter. GMA News - SciTech. Retrieved on 2024-03-06.