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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Stock Market devider Araneta divests bulk of his PhilWeb preferred shares for ₱731 million

Araneta divests bulk of his PhilWeb preferred shares for ₱731 million

Published Apr 30, 2026 10:35 am
Gregorio Araneta III
Gregorio Araneta III

Tycoon Gregorio Araneta III, the brother-in-law of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., continues to reduce his now-minority stake in gaming firm PhilWeb Corp., which he had acquired control of from the late Roberto V. Ongpin.

PhilWeb informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Thursday, April 30, that shareholder Gregorio Araneta Inc. (GAI) sold a total of 82.26 million PhilWeb preferred shares out of its 97.26-million holding at ₱8.89 per share on April 27 and 28, 2026, for total proceeds of ₱731.3 million.

Last December, GAI announced a deal to sell its entire 57 percent of PhilWeb’s outstanding common shares, equivalent to 829.57 million shares, for ₱1.8 billion or ₱2.17 per share in favor of two firms controlled and led by PhilWeb President Edgar Brian K. Ng.

The management takeover from Araneta will be undertaken in two tranches after PhilWeb executed an amendment to the share purchase agreement (SPA) with Nexora Holdings Inc. (NHI) and Velora Holdings Inc. (VHI) for the sale of GAI’s 57-percent interest in PhilWeb.

Under the amended SPA, tranche A, comprising 488.16 million common shares representing 34 percent of PhilWeb’s issued and outstanding stock, was transferred to NHI.

Tranche B, comprising 341.41 million common shares representing 23.78 percent of PhilWeb’s issued and outstanding stock, was transferred to NHI and VHI.

The Gokongwei Group’s digital gaming platform NUSTAR Online tapped PhilWeb for a content partnership last March, marking a strategic expansion of PhilWeb’s role within the Philippines’ regulated gaming ecosystem.

PhilWeb also announced its entry into the game content distribution and aggregation business following its recent business-to-business (B2B) accreditation under the state-run regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (PAGCOR) framework.

Under this initiative, PhilWeb is establishing relationships with leading global gaming content providers while building a content aggregation layer that enables licensed operators to access a broad portfolio of compliant gaming content through a unified platform interface.

In parallel, PhilWeb is integrating content from a wide range of global studios through aggregation arrangements, positioning its platform to deliver a diversified and continuously expanding content offering to licensed operators.

Initial launch deployments are expected to include PT Gaming and NUSTAR Online, the digital extension of the NUSTAR Resort and Casino in Cebu province, representing two distinct and high-profile operator profiles within the Philippine market.

The firm has also been tapped by Okada Manila and Hann Casino for their foray into the online gaming space. PhilWeb has likewise forged a partnership with gaming equipment firm FBM for the deployment of 30,000 off-line gaming machines nationwide. - James A. Loyola

Related Tags

PhilWeb Corporation Gregorio Araneta III Edgar Brian K. Ng
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