The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved the application of IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (IPE), the online gaming subsidiary of IPVG Corporation, to list its shares by way of introduction.

In a disclosure, IPVG said IPE is listing 33.55 million common shares under the second board of the PSE at an indicative reference opening price of P50.00 per share without first having to undertake an initial public offer.

"We are thrilled with the approval of the listing of our Company. We will be the first publicly listed online games publisher in the country and marks a new phase in the growth of our organization,” said IP E-Games chief executive officer Enrique Y. Gonzalez.

He added that, “with our access to the capital markets, we are well positioned to further grow the Company by continuously investing in our content pipeline and publishing infrastructure. We hope to attract our gaming community to participate in the stock market, and in particular with our Company."

IPE is allowed to list without first undertaking an IPO under the PSE’s rules because its shares are widely held and it is mandated to publicly list its shares as a recipient of incentives from the Board of Investments.

PSE records show, IPE is controlled by IPE Global Holdings Corporation with a 76.96 percent interest while IPVG owns 14.49 percent and the balance of 2.28 percent is held by IPVG Employees Inc.

IPVG said IPE will make a public offering of its shares within one year from the listing of its shares in the PSE and comply with the minimum public ownership requirement of the bourse.

IP E-Game was organized on November 2005 mainly to engage in the business of interactive gaming and content distribution. It is currently one of the leading online game publishers in the country, pioneering the free-to-play business model wherein gamers are not required to pay a subscription fee to play online games.

Since it started operations in 2006, IP E-Game has launched five massively multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs and four casual games in the Philippine market.

The company has 28 main distributors with a network spanning approximately 20,000 outlets such as Internet cafes, independent kiosks, mini-carts and computer shops. As of June 30, 2009, IP E-Game has 10 million registered gamers all over the country.