MANILA, Philippines — The peso exchange rate stands at P42.75 to the US dollar, the closing rate on Tuesday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx). The weighted average rate stands at P42.643.

Demand for 7-yr bonds up

The Bureau of Treasury yesterday offered an additional P9 billion worth of August 2018 bonds via a tap facility due to strong demand for the paper.

The tap facility closed late yesterday and the bond will be formally reissued on today.

The seven-year peso-denominated bond, originally issued in August 2011, carries a coupon of 5.00% and a yield-to-maturity of 4.487%.

At an auction Tuesday, the bond fetched a yield of 4.504%. Total tenders reached P32.7 billion, more than three times the P9 billion offered by the BTr.

Gaming firms agree to merge

IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (E-Games) and Level Up! Inc. (LUI) have reached an agreement to merge their Philippine online game publishing businesses. In accordance with the agreement, most of E-Game’s titles and assets relating to its game publishing business will be transferred to LUI and the publishing operations of said titles will be merged into LUI’s associated online game publishing company, Playweb Games Inc.

In exchange, E-Games will receive equity in LUI, a commercial interest in Playweb Games Inc. (game publisher and operator of all LUI game titles and services), and a cash consideration. The completion of the deal is subject to closing conditions.

WI-FI For Petron Food Stores

wi-tribe Telecoms, Inc., the country’s only pure 4G Internet service provider, recently signed an agreement with San Miguel Food Avenue (formerly Petron Treats) to provide free Wi-Fi to visitors of select San Miguel Food Avenue branches.

“Selected San Miguel Food Avenue stores are now part of the fast growing number of enterprises connecting to wi-tribe’s 4G network. That’s a testament to wi-tribe’s reliable and world-class internet service,” wi-tribe Telecoms’ Head of Corporate Sales Henry Abes said.

wi-tribe Telecoms Inc., is a partnership between San Miguel Corp. and Qatar Telecom.

Toledo Heads Philex Mining Unit

In a recent disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Philex Mining Corporation revealed the appointment of lawyer and former Press Secretary Michael T. Toledo as head for Corporate Affairs ånd Government Relations.

Toledo, who was until recently the president and CEO for the Manila office of global PR and communications firm Weber Shandwick, has had a wealth of experience serving both in the private and public sectors.