Nazara Raises Stake In Absolute Sports With INR 73 Cr Investment

SUMMARY

Nazara has picked up an additional 10.26% stake in Absolute Sports for INR 72.73 Cr (around $8.4 Mn)

With this transaction, the gaming major has increased its total stake to 81.94% in the subsidiary

Notably, this transaction is a part of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA)

Gaming major Nazara Technologies has picked up an additional 10.26% stake in its subsidiary Absolute Sports for INR 72.73 Cr (around $8.4 Mn)

With this transaction, the gaming major has increased its total stake to 81.94% in the subsidiary, said the company in a release.

“…. the Company (Nazara) has acquired 21,830 equity shares of INR 1 each, representing 10.26% of the equity share capital of Absolute, from its founding shareholders,” the company added.

Notably, this transaction is a part of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) inked between Nazara, Absolute Sports and its founding shareholders Porush Jain and Srinivas Cuddapah in September. Under this agreement, Nazara will acquire a 19.35% stake in Absolute Sports for INR 145.47 Cr.

While this all-cash transaction is the first tranche, the balance amount will be paid in the second tranche, the company added.

This acquisition comes weeks after Nazara announced its plans to acquire additional stake in three of its subsidiaries – NODWIN Gaming, Absolute Sports and adtech Datawrkz. Additionally, the company is also looking to make investments in kids-play centre company Funky Monkeys and edtech LearnTube.ai.

Last week, Nazara increased its stake in Nextwave Multimedia by 3% with an investment of INR 2.3 Cr. This transaction brought Nazara’s total holding in the Nextwave Multimedia to 74.88% from 71.88%.

The listed company has been bullish on its acquisition spree this year. It has strengthened its position in the gaming ecosystem by acquiring stakes in multiple gaming companies including UK-based gaming studio Fusebox Games, Paper Boat Apps, gaming community platform STAN, Pokerbaazi’s parent Moonshine Technology, among others.

To fuel its future acquisition plans, Nazara recently raised INR 855 Cr ($101.3 Mn) via preferential issue from SBI Mutual Fund, CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti, Aamara Capital, among others.

Nazara posted a 33% decline in its consolidated net profit to INR 16.24 Cr in the Q2 FY25, against INR 24.18 Cr in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. However, its operating revenue grew 7% to INR 318.94 Cr in the quarter under review from INR 297.24 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

At 1:10 PM, the shares of Nazara were trading at INR 1020.85 apiece, up 0.81% from its previous close at INR 1012.65