Amid Plans To Raise Fresh Capital, Nazara Stock Touches 52-Week High

Shares of gaming unicorn Nazara Technologies jumped more than 8.2% on the BSE to reach a 52-week high of INR 814.30 during Thursday’s early trade (August 31). 

As the day progressed, the stock pared some of the gains and remained flat before gathering pace again at around 2 PM. Nazara stock closed the day up 3.46% at INR 777.75 on the BSE.

The company’s market capitalisation stood at INR 5,146.69 Cr, while around 57,308 shares of Nazara exchanged hands on Thursday. 

A day ago, on August 30, the company announced that it would seek board approval to raise capital via the issuance of equity shares or securities on a preferential basis, likely paving the way for the spurt in the stock. 

For the next two days, the trading window for dealing in securities of the company shall be closed for the ‘designated persons and their immediate relatives and the connected persons’ till the Nazara board votes on the proposal to approve raising funds.

It is pertinent to note that the gaming giant secured the board’s approval, in July, to raise up to INR 750 Cr and increase authorised share capital to INR 50 Cr from INR 30 Cr. However, since then, there have been no reports confirming the shareholder approval of the same. 

Meanwhile, there is also no clarity on the reason why the startup wants to raise fresh capital. However, the funds could likely be deployed to fuel the company’s acquisition and expansion plans. 

Earlier in August, Nazara pumped $500K into an Israeli game developer, Snax Games, to acquire the exclusive rights to publish the latter’s games in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East on a revenue-sharing basis for the next five years. 

In May, the company said that it would increase its stake in Next Wave Multimedia to nearly 72%. In March, it acquired a 73.27% stake in Pro Football Network through its subsidiary SportsKeeda.

The development comes at a time when Nazara has been logging healthy and profitable numbers. The company’s consolidated net profit jumped to INR 61.4 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) while revenue from operations soared 75% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,091 Cr during the period under review. 

Consequently, the stock has seen hefty trading on the bourses. In the past week, Nazara’s shares have zoomed 6.25% while growing nearly 30% so far this year.

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