Nazara To Acquire Middle Eastern Game Publisher Publishme Nazara will invest an approximate amount of INR 20 crore for acquiring 69.82 per cent stake by way of primary and secondary transaction through its subsidiary
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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India-based diversified gaming, gamified learning and sports media company Nazara Technologies Limited on Thursday announced that it has signed a binding term sheet to acquire a majority stake in Arrakis Tanitim Organizasyon Pazarlama (Publishme), the mobile game publishing agency in the Middle East and Turkey.
Nazara will invest an approximate amount of INR 20 crore for acquiring a 69.82 per cent stake by way of primary and secondary transactions through its subsidiary.
"We are delighted to join Nazara and lead the company's foray in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. MENA is one of the fastest-growing gaming markets, with estimated market size of $4.8 billion, and has over 160 million gamers in the region (of which 100 million are mobile gamers). Our alliance with Nazara offers a unique blend of the network, global reach and local capabilities to further the growth of the gaming industry in the region. With this, Publishme, will become a full-fledged publisher in the MENA region," said Özgür Özalp, chief executive officer, Publishme.
Publishme is a full-service games marketing and publishing agency that works extensively with gaming publishers in Turkey and the MENA region. Nazara's offerings are already present in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America. With this acquisition, Nazara expands its international footprint in the freemium segment. Nazara will aim to build local execution capabilities cutting across key growth segments namely, freemium, gamified learning, and esports.
"MENA is a key geography for us and this acquisition will help us in establishing ourselves as a key player in the region. We are excited to have someone with deep regional knowledge and capabilities like Özgür and his team join the "Friends of Nazara' network," added, Nitish Mittersain, founder and joint managing director, Nazara.
The "Friends of Nazara' network comprises of established gaming companies in which Nazara holds majority stakes and works actively with existing founders and management teams to rapidly achieve scale. These companies include Nodwin Gaming and SportsKeeda in esports. Next Wave Multimedia, developer of World Cricket Championship (WCC), the largest mobile-based cricket simulation game, and Paper Boat Apps, developers of the popular gamified learning app Kiddopia, the company shared.
