Xurpas to buy Wavemaker Partners

MANILA, Philippines — Xurpas Inc., the listed technology company, will acquire Wavemaker Partners US, a Los Angeles-based venture capital management firm.

In a disclosure yesterday, Xurpas said its board of directors approved the transaction on Sept. 20, and would then be subject to shareholders’ approval.

Xurpas chairman Nix Nolledo said the acquisition would expand Xurpas’ technology base and would give Filipino shareholders and investors access to an entire portfolio of promising venture-backed early-stage companies in the US.

“Wavemaker US has been one of the top performing tech venture funds, and has consistently outperformed public markets over the last decade,” Nolledo said.

Nolledo said that through Wavemaker, Xurpas shareholders could now participate in the significant potential upside from investments in the early-stage technology space.

Wavemaker is a US technology venture firm which invests in entrepreneurs that are solving industry problems. It has so far invested in over 230 technology companies in high impact areas such as enterprise software, data and intelligence platforms and other technology-enabled companies in digital media and consumer.

The deal will be paid for in cash and the partners of Wavemaker US have also subscribed to a total of 1.7 billion Xurpas unissued shares for approximately 48 percent stake in the listed technology firm.

The deal is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter, pending satisfaction of certain conditions and securing shareholders’ approval.

Wavemaker was founded by Filipino entrepreneur turned venture capitalist Eric Manlunas founded as an early-stage venture capital fund in Los Angeles in 2003.

Wavemaker US is one of the most active venture capital firms in Southern California, and also represents Southern California within the Draper Venture Network (DVN), which was founded by venture capitalist Tim Draper, with 24 funds across four continents with over $2 billion of assets under management.