PRESS RELEASE: Nacon announces the acquisition of Big Ant Studios, one of australia’s leading video game development studio...
January 21 2021 - 11:45AM
PRESS RELEASE: Nacon announces the acquisition of Big Ant Studios,
one of australia’s leading video game development studios
Press Release
Lesquin, 21 January 2021, 18.00 hrs
Nacon announces the acquisition
of
Big Ant Studios
one of australia’s leading video game
development studios
A major external growth transaction in
line with Nacon’s development strategy in the video game
industry
This exclusive acquisition agreement will enable
Nacon to acquire several key Intellectual Property assets and
benefit from Big Ant’s remarkable know-how. It will also help Nacon
to complete its editorial positioning in sports simulations and to
extend its commercial development outside Europe, particularly in
the Asia-Pacific region.
The integration of Big Ant into the Nacon group
will enable the studio to increase its investment capacity to
develop a broader and more ambitious games catalog. Ross Symons
founder and CEO of the studio, will continue to run Big Ant with a
high degree of autonomy so that they can concentrate on the
creative side of their productions, while benefiting from the
sales, editorial and marketing support of the Nacon teams.
Big Ant, a key Australian studio in
major sports such as rugby, tennis and cricket.
Founded in 2001 by video game industry veteran,
Ross Symons, Big Ant is one of Australia's largest and oldest
independent video game developers. The studio has developed games
for legendary franchises such as Spyro the Dragon but is best known
for its high quality sports franchises such as the Australian
Football League (AFL), Rugby League, tennis and cricket.
Through this strategic acquisition, Nacon
intends to become the world's leading player for rugby, tennis and
cricket video games. Cricket for instance is considered the second
most popular sport in the world with 120 million players and 1.5
billion fans in total. Big Ant is the world reference for
video games in this discipline, previously obtaining a Metacritic
score of 83 for its Don Bradman Cricket series.
Big Ant is targetting an operating profit of 6.0
M€ for the 2021-22 financial year.
Terms and conditions of the
transaction
The acquisition of 100% of the share capital and
voting rights of Big Ant will have an overall maximum price of 35M€
on the basis of :
- a net price of 15 M€ (net of cash and debt) in cash upon
signature ;
- an earn-out payable for 50% in cash and for 50% through
the creation of new Nacon shares, based on performance until March
31, 2024.
Final completion of the transaction is expected
to take place in February 2021, subject to usual conditions
precedent.
The Board of Directors of Nacon approved the
completion of this transaction and will reconvene at the time of
the final closing of the transaction.
"This acquisition represents a significant step
in Nacon's strategy.
It significantly strengthens our ability to
create new sports games that match our ambitions in the AA segment.
Through this transaction, we intend to become the world's leading
player in rugby, tennis and cricket. Nacon is also proud to welcome
the talents of Big Ant, one of the most creative studios in the
industry, and we will support its growth on new, even more
ambitious projects." says Alain Falc, Chairman and CEO of
Nacon.
"We are delighted to join the Nacon group,
a leading international player in the video game industry, driven
by a vision and ambition that fully corresponds to our culture and
development targets. Joining the Nacon Group is a unique
opportunity to significantly increase our production resources in
order to create ever more qualitative games and to optimize our
operations," said Ross Symons founder and CEO, Big
Ant.
Next publication:
Q3 2020/21 sales: 25 January
2021, Press release after close of the Paris stock exchange
ABOUT NACON
|
2019-20 ANNUAL SALES129.4 M€
HEADCOUNTOver 550 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 30 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_Nacon_Acquis_BigAnt - Diffusion Anglais
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