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 a 30% stake from IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. on Level Up! Inc., totaling 100% ownership, for US$4.2 million. PlayWeb Games Inc. was re-established as PlayPark Inc., with Level Up! Inc. controlling 40% of PlayPark Inc.
The Level Up! branding was used until 2015 when it was completely phased out in favor of Asiasoft's own PlayPark portal.
Background
By 2014, Level Up! Inc. (LUI) was the largest live service gaming publisher in the Philippines. It owned the live service gaming brand 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 LUI[doc 1] from its parent company, Level Up! International Holdings Pte. Ltd, for US$2.94 million. According to the report, LUI 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 LUI[doc 2] The unnamed shareholder was IP E-Game Ventures Inc.[1], whose minority stake was obtained from its merger with LUI in 2012.
The complete buyout of LUI was confirmed on February 21, 2014.[2]
Aftermath
The Level Up! branding was retained until 2015, when it was retired in favor of a unified PlayPark brand. This includes replacing the yearly Level Up! Live tournament series with PlayPark All-Stars.
PlayWeb Games Inc., the Philippine company that published the live service games of LUI since 2011, was re-established as PlayPark Inc. LUI, as Asiasoft's subsidiary, had a 40% ownership of 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.
