Gaming Giant Nazara Raises INR 315 Cr For Growth Initiatives, Acquisitions

Mumbai-based gaming company Nazara Technologies Ltd has raised INR 315 Cr through preferential allotment of fresh equity to existing institutional investors Gamnat Pte Ltd and Plutus Wealth Management.

The infusion of fresh funds will be utilised to invest in growth initiatives of the company as well as pursue strategic acquisitions in the various business verticals of the company including gamified learning, freemium, skill-based real money gaming and esports as the company continues to expand its “Friends of Nazara” ecosystem, said the company statement.

Its board has approved the issuance of up to 14,29,266 equity shares at an issue price of INR 2,206 per equity share aggregating to INR 315.29 Cr to Gamnat Pte Ltd and Plutus Wealth Management LLP. The issuance has been done at a discount of around 16% from its current share prices.

On Wednesday, its shares on the BSE closed at INR 2,630.80 and its current market capitalisation stands at INR 8,011.53 Cr. 

The fund infusion is subject to the approval of the shareholders of the company along with regulatory and statutory authorities as may be applicable.

“The company will issue 1,429,266 equity shares of the face value of INR 4 each at a price of INR 2,206 per equity share (including a premium of INR 2,202 per equity share). As per SEBI ICDR Guidelines, these shares will be locked in for a period of 1 year from the date of issue,” the gaming company said in a statement.

The ‘Friends of Nazara’ network comprises gaming companies in which Nazara holds majority stakes. These companies include Nodwin Gaming and Sportskeeda in esports, Next Wave Multimedia (developer of World Cricket Championship (WCC), Paper Boat Apps (developers of gamified early learning app Kiddopia) and Halaplay and Openplay in the skill-based real money gaming vertical.

In August, the gaming and sports media platform acquired Hyderabad’s OpenPlay Technologies Private Limited for INR 186.41 Cr. 

It was Nazara’s second acquisition after going public. Nazara had acquired a majority stake (69.82%) in Turkey and West Asia based mobile gaming publishing agency, Publishme in June this year.

Nazara became the first Indian gaming firm to go public in March this year as it got listed at INR 1,670.70 which was at a premium of 80% to the issue price. 

Started by Nitish Mittersain in 2000, Nazara, at present, boasts of having a presence in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America, with offerings across interactive gaming, esports and gamified early learning ecosystems.

In the first quarter of FY22, it had posted a consolidated net profit (attributable to owners of the company) of INR 5.3 Cr in Q1 of FY22, against an INR 27.9 Cr loss reported during the corresponding quarter of FY21. Its revenue from operations for April-June FY22 was INR 131.2 Cr, a 45% rise from INR 90.5 Cr in the same quarter last year.