? Acquisition
MY.GAMES, a gaming division of Mail.ru Group, has acquired the controlling stake in the mobile game development studio DeusCraft and became the owner of 51.16% shares of the Target
Maximum transaction price accounts for $49.1m, including:
$14.1m upfront consideration
up to $35m earn-out consideration to be paid in April 2021, if the company’s monthly revenue is about $15m as of Q1 2021
The deal is performed by the participation of MGVC, the investment arm of MY.GAMES, and is expected to close in October 2020
The consolidation of the company is expected to have a slight negative impact on MY.GAMES EBITDA in 2020 due to the heated development process of two new mobile titles
? Strategic Rationale
The consolidation perfectly fits MY.GAMES strategy to become a top-25 games company in the world, with growing M&A activity being a part of it
MY.GAMES will be able to benefit from the expertise of DeusCraft’s team, which has a vast background of experience in the development of casual mobile games (15+ years) especially when it comes to the new time management genre
As for Deus Craft, the studio will be able to grow and expand globally, using the marketing and analytical expertise of MY.GAMES
? Products
DeusCraft is a casual mobile games developer behind such titles as Grand Hotel Mania, Game of Evolution: Idle Clicker and Merge Life, Dress Up Fever, Battle Instinct, and others
The company is best known for its Grand Hotel Mania game, which was released in January 2020 and by now has been downloaded more than 4.1 million times with a peak of 1.7 million downloads in August. Most of the downloads came from the U.S. market
Combined, all the games of the company has been downloaded about 6 million times
Currently, Deus Craft is working on two new titles that are expected to be released within the next 12 months
? MY.GAMES M&A Activity
In March 2020, MY.GAMES acquired control over mobile games developer InGame. MY.GAMES has also invested in Reaction Games and US-based Hypematers
Over the course of 2019, the company had 7 acquisitions, with 2 of them being gaming related:
In May 2019, the control in mobile games developer Panzerdog, known for tactical shooter Tacticool
In July 2019, the control in mobile games developer SWAG MASHA, known for interactive story game Love Sick
Over the course of 2018, the company had 4 acquisitions, with 2 of them being gaming related:
In January 2018, MY.GAMES acquired an esport group of companies operating under the ESforce brand
In April 2018, the company acquired control in mobile games developer BitGames
Over the course of 2016, the company had 3 acquisitions, with 1 of them being gaming related:
In October 2016, MY.GAMES acquired 100% of the mobile games developer Pixonic
SOURCES: Mail.Ru Group, LSE
