Nazara To Sell 95% Stake In OpenPlay To PokerBaazi Parent

Listed gaming major Nazara Technologies has received its board’s approval to sell 94.85% stake in its subsidiary OpenPlay Technologies to online poker platform PokerBaazi’s parent entity Moonshine Technology for INR 104.33 Cr.

As per the company’s exchange filing, the deal will be executed through the issuance of 1,99,890 Moonshine’s compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at a face value of INR 10 each, to Nazara and other sellers.

Founded by Navkiran Singh in 2014, Moonshine Technology initially focussed on online poker (PokerBaazi) but later diversified into card games (CardBaazi), fantasy sports, and spectator gaming (SportsBaazi).

Post the deal, ClassicRummy game creator will become a subsidiary of Moonshine, where it currently holds 46.07% equity stake and 2,87,376 CCPS, as per the filing.

Through the acquisition, Moonshine aims to strengthen its hold in the real money gaming (RMG) market, while the integration of OpenPlay’s rummy platform to its existing list of games will also enable PokerBaazi’s parent to leverage its technological, marketing, and data-driven expertise, the filing added.

“We look forward to leveraging OpenPlay’s strong foundation and accelerate the growth by enhancing user experience with our best-in-class technology and product innovations we are poised to accelerate growth and enhance user experience by integrating best-in-class technology and product innovations,” Navkiran Singh, founder and chief executive of Moonshine said.

This development comes at a time when the company has been on the acquisition spree where Nazara bought a majority stake in Mumbai-based Funky Monkeys Play Centers Private Limited for INR 43.7 Cr (around $5.01 Mn), weeks ago.

Prior to that, Nazara’s subsidiary NODWIN Gaming announced acquiring another 93% stake in gaming and esports media company AFK Gaming for INR 7.6 Cr via cash and equity swaps, in December last year.

To note, Nazara received approvals to acquire a 47.7% stake in Moonshine for INR 831.5 Cr through a secondary transaction from existing shareholders.

Other Board Approvals

Moreover, the board has approved OpenPlay to grant an unsecured loan of about INR 20 Cr to Moonshine, while further details are yet to be finalised upon the completion of the deal.

Further, the company’s board also gave a nod for Nazara to invest around $250K (INR 2.17 Cr) in ReelSaga Innovations Pvt Ltd in cash through subscription to its 593 equity shares of INR 10 each, representing 3.57% of the equity share capital of ReelSaga.

Nazara’s filing stated that the investments are subject to statutory approvals, consents and permissions to get through.

On the financial front, Nazara Technologies’ consolidated net profit declined 53.5% to INR 13.7 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 29.5 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, its operating revenue zoomed 66.8% to its highest ever recorded INR 534.7 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 320.4 Cr in Q3 FY24.