24 MAR 2021
MTG Acquires Ninja Kiwi And Completes A Direct Share Issue
M&A
M&A
MTG Completes Hutch Acquisition
M&A
This article is based on our Weekly News Digest #26 from 05.07.2021. If you want to receive such analyses first, be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. There, we analyze the largest deals, elaborating on the financials and strategy behind, while also covering the smaller transactions of the week.
? Acquisition
- Stockholm-based investment holding company with assets in esports and gaming Modern Times Group has acquired Indian word games developer PlaySimple for up to $510m, including:
- $360m upfront, paid 77% in cash and the rest in Class B MTG shares
- $150m earn-out consideration paid in cash if certain undisclosed targets are met by PlaySimple
- According to PlaySimple’s financial performance in 2020 (Revenue of ~$83m and Adj. EBITDA of $18m), the transactions multiplies are:
| Multiples | With Earn-out | Without Earn-out |
| EV/Revenue | 6.1x | 4.3x |
| EV/Adj.EBITDA | 28.3x | 20x |
? Strategic Rationale
- The acquisition clearly becomes one of the largest exits, when it comes to Indian startups. Since its inception in 2014, PlaySimple has raised a bit more than $4.5m with the latest $4m Series A round closed in Nov’16 with participation from Elevation Capital and Chiratae Ventures
- The acquisition will help MTG to expand further and strengthen its position in the casual gaming sector. However, this is still the entirely new niche of word games for the company, which goes in line with MTG’s active inorganic growth strategy, based on acquisition across various genres and regions
? Products
- With the acquisition, MTG expands into a new niche genre — F2P word games. Currently, there are 9 live word games in the PlaySimple’s portfolio with a total of 75 million installs and 7 million MAU
- Some of the best-performing games are Word Trip, Daily Themed Crossword, Crossword Jam, and World Wars. In 2021, PlaySimple is planning to release four new games. The company will also diversify into card games in the nearest future
? Previous Acquisitions
- In Mar’21, MTG has entered into an agreement to acquire New Zealand-based mobile tower defense games developer Ninja Kiwi, for a total consideration of $189m
In Dec’20, the company acquired an England-based mobile racing games developer Hutch was for up to $275m
In Jul’17, a US-based web gaming portal Kongregate was bought for $55m
In May’17, Germany-based browser and mobile games developer InnoGames was purchased for $90m
Sources: PRESS RELEASE
Read more
03 July 2021
Sony has purchased Housemarque & Nixxes Software for an...
This article is based on our Weekly News Digest #26 from 05.07.2021. If you want to receive such analyses first, be sure to ...
READ MORE
M&A
06 July 2021
Dream Games Has Raised $155m At $1B Valuation
This article is based on our Weekly News Digest #26 from 05.07.2021. If you want to receive such analyses first, be sure to ...
READ MORE
LATER VENTURE
Join us on Patreon to enhance your decision-making with our expertly curated data and support our project.
