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IVANTAGE Corp. has infused fresh capital in its Internet search
engine unit, Yehey.com.
The parent company told the Philippine Stock
Exchange that it has bought 250 million common shares worth P250
million of Yehey’s increase in its capital stock from P30 million
to P1 billion.
iVantage owned 98 percent of the search engine
prior to the declaration of a 5-percent property dividend worth
P89.42 million in the form of Yehey shares to shareholders. This
effectively reduced the parent’s shareholdings to 63 percent while
iVantage shareholders held 36 percent of the homegrown search
engine-cum-portal.
The property declaration has paved the way for
Yehey to list at the local bourse by way of introduction within this
year. To make the business venture more profitable, Yehey said it
has to change its business model since online advertising in the
Philippines is not yet viable as a lone income source for web-based
companies.
Yehey ventured into web development/web design
for companies that can place ads on Yehey.com and has gone into
e-commerce by providing payment solutions to online merchants. It
introduced new web offerings like TOL (talk on line) and is set to
launch Dangka, a virtual world made up of avatars similar to the
popular SIMs.
Last year, iVantage said it is eyeing potential
investments in financial services following its divestment from
iBank.
The P194 million it earned from selling iBank
shares are actively managed as a portfolio of fixed income
securities and equities. While iVantage is still threshing out plans
regarding its future major investment, it plans to grow its two
remaining core businesses, Yehey.com and eBusiness Philippines Inc.,
which the management felt have yet to reach their full potential.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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