Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ) (“MTG”) has acquired of 100 per cent of PlaySimple. PlaySimple is a rapidly growing, highly profitable business and one of the global leaders in the attractive mobile word games genre. The up-front consideration amounts to approximately $361 million (on a cash and debt free basis) and performance based earn-out payments amount to an expected value of $150 in aggregate. Since December 2020, MTG has with the acquisitions of Hutch, Ninja Kiwi and now PlaySimple accelerated the buildup of a highly attractive gaming vertical which on a pro forma basis generated revenues of approximately $516 million in 2020 and $135 million in Q1 2021 with monthly (MAU)30 million and daily active users (DAU) 6 million approximately.
MTG’s Group president and CEO Maria Redin commented: “We’re very happy to welcome PlaySimple to our family of gaming companies. PlaySimple is a rapidly growing and highly profitable games studio that quickly has established itself as one of the leading global developers of free-to-play word games, an exciting new genre for MTG. An experienced management team and focused, data driven operating model has allowed PlaySimple to develop multiple game hits especially popular with the growing global audience of female gamers. What’s more, the company has a pipeline of several exciting new games, some of which are card games, a new genre for PlaySimple.PlaySimple’s ad-tech and cross promotion competences which have played a pivotal role in their own journey can in time allow us to accelerate the growth of our whole gaming vertical. Expanding our geographical footprint into the Indian subcontinent will also provide access to one of the best talent pools in the world. Acquisitions are a strategic part of our value creation story. Through the acquisitions of Hutch, Ninja Kiwi and now PlaySimple, MTG has built a highly attractive games portfolio that is significantly more diversified in terms of genres, audiences, and revenues, which provides improved visibility, stability and opportunities.”
PlaySimple’s co-founder and CEO Siddharth Jain commented, “We’re delighted to join the MTG family – MTG’s approach to investments offers us creative freedom, and the opportunities created by the GamingCo really resonate with our team. We’re excited to have found a new home for our company, one where our team can learn and grow alongside our fellow companies.”
Co-founders and management team members Siddhanth Jain, Suraj Nalin and Preeti Reddy jointly commented, “We’re very proud of the games we’ve developed over the years, and of the infrastructure and scale that we’ve achieved with our team. As we join the MTG family, we look forward to leveraging our proprietary technology across MTG’s gaming portfolio, expanding into the European market, investing in cutting-edge technology and building exciting new games.”
The acquisition of PlaySimple marks an important next step in the build-up of a diversified gaming vertical with high-quality gaming companies and is in line with MTG’s strategy to drive value creation through organic growth and strategic M&A. Scaling and diversifying the GamingCo helps to accelerate the operational performance while at the same time creating a more stable business.
The acquisition of PlaySimple is a perfect fit for MTG as it will significantly strengthen the company’s position in the casual games’ genre and enable access to the fast-growing word games genre. PlaySimple will strengthen MTG’s position amongst the female gaming audience while also enabling access to the strategically important talent pool in India.
Following the acquisition of PlaySimple, MTG’s gaming vertical has become a truly diversified global gaming group with companies across Europe, North America, and Australasia. The gaming vertical now holds strong positions in the city building and strategy genres through InnoGames, mobile racing through Hutch, idle games through Kongregate, tower defense through Ninja Kiwi, and word games – with card games soon to follow – through PlaySimple.