Xurpas founders convert advances into equity

By VG Cabuag @villygc

Xurpas Inc.’s founders Nico Jose Nolledo and Fernando Jude Garcia on Monday said they will convert some p136 million worth of shareholder advances into equity.

The final conversion price will be determined within 30 days, subject to certain conditions, mainly that the conversion price will be above market price, and that the conversion price will be supported by a fairness opinion from a qualified third party authority, the company said in its disclosure.

Nolledo and Garcia have provided the company with the cash advances between the years 2017 to 2019 to provide Xurpas with the capital to fund the company’s pivot towards the enterprise market.

The conversion of substantially all of the two founders’ advances into equity improves and strengthens Xurpas’ balance sheet and reflects the founders’ confidence in the corporation’s ability to further expand its business, the company said.

“We have shown steady progress since we shifted our focus to the enterprise segment, and now have distinct products and services catering to customers both in the p h ilippines and increasingly, overseas,” Garcia, one of Xurpas’ founders, and currently the company’s chief technology officer, said.

“We continue to grow not only our core software development and IT staff augmentation businesses, but have introduced pre-packaged business solutions for sMEs, and will be offering a I consulting and

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

development services to local companies as well.” a ltitude Games, a company where Xurpas has a minority stake, said its board has approved the sale of its assets, including intellectual property and licenses, to a company registered in australia.

The company said it will submit an application with the securities and Exchange Commission to confirm the transaction by securing a confirmation of valuation. The listing of the shares will also be subject to an application with the philippine stock Exchange.

Xurpas currently owns 21.17 percent shares of a ltitude Games pte. Ltd., the singapore entity, and and a ltitude Games Inc., the philippine company.

“With the sale of a ltitude Games’ business, a ltitude will be able to settle the convertible debt it has previ- reports surfaced on Monday that a E V now controls a a Com Travel ph ilippines Inc., the company that bought a 60 percent stake in a ira sia philippines in June. The remaining 40 percent is owned by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes through a ira sia Investments Ltd., later a ira sia av iation Ltd. a n industry source said the aboitiz Group made the buyout in support of its proposal to rehabilitate and upgrade the airports in a lbay and Bohol,” the report said. VG Cabuag a ccording to Grab ph ilippines public a ffairs head sherielysse Bonifacio, the partnership aims to protect its app users from cybercrime, noting that tying up with the government is an “integral” part of boosting cybersecurity in the country. public-private sector collaboration is an integral component of efforts to fight digital crime, which is why Grab is working with agencies such as the DICT to ensure the security of our platform.”

ABoI TIZ Equity Ventures Inc. ( a E V) on Monday denied that it has acquired a majority stake in low-cost carrier a ira sia philippines, the country’s third largest airline.

“We would like to clarify and state that this information is not true and accurate. at this time, we are actively verifying the sources that led to the publication of this article and have requested that the article be taken down,” a EV said in a statement.

Gra B philippines has partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to help promote cybersecurity and share strategies to combat financial technology (fintech) and e-commerce crimes.

With the partnership, Grab and the DICT have organized several knowledge sessions on cybersecurity in fintech and e-commerce.

“With e-commerce in the country estimated at half a trillion pesos last year, and it being projected to hit a trillion pesos by 2026, it is imperative for the private sector to be proactive in efforts to protect Filipino consumers who are doing more and more of their transactions online,” Bonifacio said. ously issued to Xurpas,” the company said in its disclosure.

ICT undersecretary paul Mercado noted that it was vital to increase public awareness and vigilance against various cybersecurity threats that exist.

ICT a ssistant secretary Jeffrey Dy also shared the highlights of the 2023-2028 National Cybersecurity pl an, which includes steps to strengthen the cybersecurity policy framework, securing and protecting Critical Information Infrastructures, and capacitating the workforce in cybersecurity, among others.

Xurpas said it will receive approximately $900,982 in net proceeds, which include the payment for the convertible debt and the corresponding equity stake in a ltitude’s business.

It purchased a ltitude Games in December 2014, and was the company’s first investment after its initial public offering in the same year.

In February, the board of Xurpas approved the establishment of the company’s presence in australia by creating a unit there.

“With this, the company will establish a sales presence for Xurpas in australia, allowing the company to offer its products and services in a market that is at least 10 times larger than the philippine market. This is an opportunity that Xurpas has not previously tapped.”

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Grab philippines Country head Grace Vera Cruz emphasized Grab’s commitment to ensure the safety and security of its platform users as she pointed out “the real and growing threat of cyberattacks on platforms, such as phishing and identity theft leading to fraudulent transactions on e-wallets.” a s we build a resilient and inclusive digital infrastructure that empowers every Filipino,” said uy “We must also safeguard our digital ecosystem from threats and vulnerabilities.” over 30 European union lawmakers have signed a document launched Monday that would ultimately ensure access to co-working spaces, prohibit tracking workers’ computers at home and protect them from having to send or respond to emails outside of working hours.

ICT secretary Ivan John uy said the philippines must harness the power of technology while ensuring the safety and security of its digital future.

ThE European union is taking up the cause of work-fromhome protections and rights.

The non-binding document was developed and launched by the Future Workforce a lliance, a forum of politicians, business leaders and academics focused on policy changes in response to the digital transformation of work environments. Their aim is to set out official Eu guidelines and best practices for companies with hybrid or remote workers and to create a legal definition of what constitutes a “healthy relationship with technology in the workplace” for employees on the job from home or in other remote locations.

“The remote work, hybrid models and flexible work-life relationships are an added value for our economy, business and workers,” said Dragoș pîslaru, chair of the European parliament Committee on Employment and social a ffairs and a signatory of the charter. “These should not come at the cost of our people with blurred lines between personal and professional life, increasing burnout rates and loneliness.”

The charter is building on the Eu’s “right to disconnect” proposal, an earlier call to grant Eu employees legal rights to switch off work-related tasks and electronic communication beyond office hours. The policy, already enforced in several Eu member states such as France, spain and Belgium, is backed by a majority of the European parliament and could become Eu law towards the end of this year, according to Ben Marks, co-founder of the Future Workforce a lliance.

The Eu s stepped-up focus on remote-worker rights comes as managers everywhere are fretting about productivity and losing touch with employees. at the same time, workers are determined to hold on to flexibility — despite some feeling increasingly lonely at home. There’s also mounting concerns about deteriorating mental health among workers as businesses haven’t quite figured out how to strike the right balance between work and life in the hybrid world. Bloomberg News

AstraZeneca shares drop on concern over lung cancer trial

AsTr aZENEC a plc shares fell as results from a high-level study of a new cancer medicine raised concern the drug might not work as well as anticipated.

The drug helped patients with the most common form of lung cancer live longer without worsening compared with standard chemotherapy, the uK drugmaker said Monday. The stock fell as much as 6.2 percent as investors were expecting a clearer statement on the trial’s success in terms of progression-free survival as well as how much longer patients lived overall.

a straZeneca’s description of the data suggest that the benefit is less pronounced than hoped, Jefferies analysts said. The company also reported some deaths in the trial, raising safety concerns. The trial is continuing because the data isn’t fully mature yet.

scientists and doctors have been trying to find a more targeted approach to chemotherapy for decades in an effort to move away from the current catch-all method that involves blasting the whole body and killing good cells as well as bad. a stra’s drug—known as datopotamab deruxtecan, or Dato-DXd—takes a more potent chemo directly to the infected cells to kill the cancer while sparing the healthy cells.

a s tra agreed to pay as much as $6 billion for the right to develop the medicine with Daiichi s a nkyo Co. as part of a broader bet to revive growth a decade ago by building a pipeline of oncology drugs. The treatment could garner as much as $18 billion in sales, Jefferies analysts have estimated.

“a straZeneca’s reported successful outcome for Dato-DXd in the Tropion-Lung01 study comes with limited details and is concerning due to reports of ‘some Grade 5 toxicity events’ (IE deaths), in particular given that this drug dose apparently saw no such issues in the phase 1 Tropion- pa nTumor01 trial,” said John Murphy, BI pharma analyst. a l so, though progression-free survival benefit was reported as statistically significant, the lack of numerical detail—a minimum 2-3 month benefit was targeted—will lead to questions regarding clinical significance. Given peak sales estimates of $10 billion, a stra shares could be under pressure today.” a straZeneca was expected to say the data were “clinically meaningful” to give a sense that the drug was adding several months of survival to patients, wrote Emily Field, an analyst at Barclays.

Instead, a s traZeneca said the data showed an “early trend” signaling a benefit for survival, though it didn’t meet the threshold for statistical significance at this time. Bloomberg News