PRESS RELEASE: NACON COMPLETES ITS VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT UNIT: ACQUISITION OF NEOPICA
October 19 2020 - 11:45AM
PRESS RELEASE: NACON COMPLETES ITS VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT UNIT:
ACQUISITION OF NEOPICA
Press release
Lesquin, 19 October 2020 18:00hrs
ACQUISITION OF NEOPICA
NACON COMPLETES ITS VIDEO GAME
DEVELOPMENT UNIT
Nacon announces the signing of an
agreement to acquire Neopica, a Belgian video game development
studio specialising in sports and life simulation
games.
Following the acquisition of 5 studios
over the last 2 years, this new operation enables Nacon to
consolidate its position as a developer-publisher by strengthening
its expertise in the production of games in promising
genres.
Created in 2007 by Peter Vermeulen and Filip
Hautekeete, among others, Neopica is a renowned Belgian studio that
has developed around sixty games, including a number of casual
games designed to appeal to the widest possible audience,
particularly children, before moving on to more complex simulation
games.
Neopica and Nacon have enjoyed a fruitful
collaboration for several years. In this respect, Neopica produced
the Hunting Simulator 1 & 2 hunting games and the FIA Euro
Truck Racing Championship game. For the latter game, Neopica
used the KT Engine, developed by Kylotonn Racing.
Based in Ghent, Belgium, the studio employs
around 30 developers and is now developing its expertise on NextGen
consoles (PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X TM).
In addition to the acquisition of know-how
accumulated over the course of numerous productions by experienced
developers, Nacon is thus consolidating its editorial positioning
with the integration of simulation and racing games, a strategic
expertise for the construction of its portfolio.
A new acquisition in line with the NACON
2023 plan
This new external growth is perfectly in line
with the NACON 2023 plan, which aims to make Nacon one of the
reference leaders in 'AA' video games.
Nacon's "Games" unit will thus have 9
development sites (6 in France, 1 in Belgium, 1 in Italy and 1 in
Canada) totalling nearly 400 developers and supported by a
publishing team of more than 50 people.
By joining the Nacon Group, the Neopica studio
will benefit from first-rate synergies, notably the commercial,
editorial and marketing contributions of the Nacon teams. Mr Peter
Vermeulen and Mr Filip Hautekeete, the studio's current directors
and co-founders, will continue to run Neopica with a high degree of
autonomy so that they can concentrate on the creative side of its
productions.
Terms of the transaction
The acquisition of 100% of Neopica's share
capital, paid in full in cash, was completed today after Nacon's
Board of Directors had previously approved the completion of the
transaction.
Additional consideration (earn-outs) based on
the quality and commercial potential of the next two game
developments may be paid to the sellers within 12 months of the
release of these games.
"We are delighted to welcome the talents
of Neopica, which will strengthen our development division and
participate in new, even more ambitious projects", said Alain Falc,
Chairman and CEO of Nacon.
"We are delighted to be joining the Nacon
group, which will enable us to accelerate our development alongside
other top-quality studios, by integrating an environment that is
conducive to the creation of increasingly high-quality games," said
Peter Vemeulen, CEO and co-founder of Neopica.
Next publication:
Sales Q2 2020/21:
26 October 2020Press release after close of the Paris
stock exchange
ABOUT NACON
|
2019-20 ANNUAL SALES129.4 M€
HEADCOUNTOvero 510 employees
INTERNATIONAL16 subsidiaries and a distribution
network across 100
countrieshttps://corporate.nacongaming.com/ |
NACON is a company of the BIGBEN Group founded in 2019 to
optimize its know-how through strong synergies in the video game
market. By bringing together its 9 development studios, the
publishing of AA video games, the design and distribution of
premium gaming devices, NACON focuses 20 years of expertise at the
service of players. This new unified business unit strengthens
NACON's position in the market, enables it to innovate by creating
new unique competitive advantages. Company listed on
Euronext Paris, compartment B ISIN : FR0013482791 ;
Reuters : NACON.PA ; Bloomberg : NACON:FP
PRESS CONTACTCap Value – Gilles Broquelet
gbroquelet@capvalue.fr - +33 1 80 81 50 01 |
- CP-Acquisition de Neopica Diffusion GB
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