Xurpas Inc. said on Friday its board of directors has approved the application for initial public offering (IPO) of its unit Xeleb Technologies Inc., the maker of casual games that features local celebrities.
The company said it is currently in the process of securing approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission for the change of its corporate name from Fluxion Inc. to Xeleb Technologies Inc., which it will be listed on the small, medium and emerging board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
“The intention to list is there, but we are still preparing the prospectus,” said Raymond Racaza, Xurpas president and chief operating officer.
He did not disclose other details of the IPO, including how much cash it intends to raise, how many shares it will sell, the price and the timetable.
“We have not finalized when we will list at the PSE. It could be this year or next year,” Racaza said.
Xurpas owns 64 percent of Xeleb Technologies Inc., which, in turn, is 100-percent owned by Xeleb Inc.
The said listing comes less than two years after the IPO of Xurpas in 2014, becoming one of the high-flying stocks for that year through 2015.
It has since bought several firms to cater to other types of businesses aside from gaming. Its casual games, which is only available to Android smart phones to corner the lower segment of the market, still account for a huge chunk of its revenues.
Xeleb, on the other hand, has been created from the ground up, with celebrities themselves becoming part owners.
Xurpas’s recent acquisition involved its $45-million deal to buy all of Art of Click Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based technology company specializing in mobile media advertising.
Art of Click has created a proprietary ad-optimization platform for advertisers.
Its platform supports both client brands and global and regional communication agencies in the development and execution of mobile strategies in markets, such as South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe.
The company had revenues for the fiscal year 2016 of SG$ 15.4 million.
“We are thrilled to find innovative companies exceedingly complementary with our business. We believe that Art of Click is a perfect match for our mobile consumer services, and that growth prospect excites us,” said Jose Nico Nolledo, the company’s chairman and CEO.
Art of Click’s mobile campaign platform is designed to maximize mobile-app monetization. VG Cabuag
In contrast to traditional mobile advertising, which delivers impressions or views to advertisers without measuring whether these translate into actual revenue, the company’s advertising platform allows advertisers to only pay for users’ measurable actions, like if a user installs a game, signs up for a service or makes a purchase.
“This allows Art of Click to closely track how their advertising campaigns translate into actual revenue, ultimately resulting in lower customer acquisition cost and maximized customer lifetime value for its clients,” the company said.