Nazara Tech Continues Acquisition Spree; Buys Majority Stake In Datawrkz & Rusk Distribution

Gaming and sports company, Nazara Technologies, will acquire a 33% stake in advertising technology firm, Datawrkz.

The company made the announcement in a regulatory filing on March 4. In addition to this, Nazara also said that its board also approved the issuance of equity shares worth INR 25 Cr to existing shareholders of Datawrkz on a preferential basis. 

The gaming company also stated that it will issue 1,10,617 shares at a face value of INR 4 each at an issue price of INR 2,260 per equity share.

Once the deal goes through, Nazara will hold a 33% equity stake in Datawrkz on a fully diluted basis. The preferential issue is subject to the approval of shareholders of the company.

Besides, Nazara Board also approved an investment of INR 30 Cr in the adtech startup’s subsidiary (Next Wave Multimedia) by way of subscription to further equity shares.

The exchange filing by the gaming startup said, “In furtherance to the approval given by the Board of Directors for investment of upto ₹20 crores in Next Wave, subsidiary of the Company (Datawrkz), the Board of Directors today at its meeting has in-principally approved further investment in equity shares of Next Wave, for an amount upto Rs. 10 crores. Accordingly, the Company will be making an investment of upto ₹30 crores in Next Wave by way of subscription to further equity shares. The Company shall update the Exchange at the time of actual investments.”

The company has convened an ‘extraordinary’ general meeting of the stakeholders for seeking necessary approval.

Remember, this comes a month after Nazara agreed to buy a 55% stake in Datawrkz in January this year for $30 Mn. The deal is supposed to proceed in two parts with the 33% acquisition part of the first tranche. 

Datawrkz was founded in 2013 by Senthil Govindan. It is a global advertising technology startup focused on accelerating user and revenue growth for clients through highly optimised digital advertising. With offices in the US, Singapore, and India, the startup functions as an independent trading desk to power digital media strategy, planning and execution. 

Barely days ago, Nazara Tech had also announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in digital content IP media network, Rusk Distribution.

In an exchange filing, Nazara Tech had said that it, “acquired 5,100 equity shares of INR 10 each of Rusk Distribution and paid a total consideration of INR 51,000 to Mayank Yadav and Karanvir Sofat, the existing Shareholders of Rusk Distribution for the same.”

Under the deal, Rusk Distribution became a subsidiary of Nazara’s parent company, Nodwin Gaming, from February 28 onwards .

Founded in 2000 by Nitish Mittersain, Nazara offers products across interactive gaming, esports and gamified early learning verticals. The startup has a presence in India, North America and emerging markets such as Africa. Nazara Tech is also backed by veteran investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

Nazara became the first Indian company to go public in March last year. This was followed by the company raising an additional INR 315 Cr through preferential allotment of fresh equity to existing institutional investors – Gamnat Pte Ltd and Plutus Wealth Management – in October last year. 

The two acquisitions aim to strengthen Nazara’ position in the advertising domain and will also deepen and widen its portfolio of content IPs in the gaming and esports ecosystem.

This comes on the heels of a slew of acquisitions by the gaming company in the recent past. In September of 2021, Nazara acquired OML Entertainment’s IP and gaming business. In October that year, the gaming startup also acquired interactive gaming and digital sports media company, Paper Boat Apps, for INR 83.5 Cr.

Further, Nazara also acquired a 100% stake in the skill gaming platform OpenPlay in August 2021 for INR 186.41 Cr. 

The Mumbai-based gaming firm is looking to expand its universe of offerings and these new additions will surely add to its ‘Friends of Nazara’ network. This will give the company some heft and will allow it to maintain its market competition amid the ever rousing competition