Mobile game publisher Jam City raises $350M and buys Ludia for $165M

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Jam City has raised $350 million in funding and has closed its obtain of mobile game publisher Ludia for $165 million.

The deal comes right after Jam City scuttled its $1.2 billion strategy to go public through a specific objective acquisition business (SPAC) due to the fact of altering situations in the stock industry. The $350 million consists of a mixture of equity and debt financing.

Jam City CEO Chris DeWolfe mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that he was pleased with the outcome even even though the business had to reset its original plans for acquiring Ludia from entertainment business Fremantle.

“We’ve had a very long standing relationship with Ludia, as well as their parent company, Fremantle, and both companies thought it was a great fit, which was very important,” DeWolfe mentioned. “So we all hung in there. We began to develop our synergy plans over the time. The time definitely wasn’t wasted. We can hit the ground running now that it is fully closed.”

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Image Credit: Ludia

Ludia has a portfolio of mobile games that incorporates the Jurassic World games (Jurassic World: The Game, Jurassic World Alive) and upcoming DC and Disney titles. DeWolfe mentioned the AR tech behind games like Jurassic World: Alive could prove helpful for the combined business.

“We had engaged in the route of partnering up with a SPAC to go public and acquire Ludia with the a transaction that started probably close to a year ago with the notion that it was going to be very quick and allow us to make the acquisition as part of the fundraise,” DeWolfe mentioned. “At the time, it was the best way until it wasn’t, and, so, as a company, you always have to choose the best capital structure that meets your needs.”

The revenue comes from Netmarble, Kabam, and affiliates of funds managed by Fortress Investment Group. The financing round is Jam City’s biggest to date. Netmarble, the South Korea-based game business and maker of Marvel: Future Revolution, retains majority ownership of Jam City. But DeWolfe mentioned Jam City operates independently, has a separate board, and has its personal strategic objectives.

Image Credit: Ludia

Jam City has generated more than $3 billion in lifetime bookings and 1.3 billion cumulative installs to date, in aggregate like Ludia. Prior to the Ludia acquisition, Jam City accomplished double-digit compound annual development in each bookings and profitability on an adjusted EBITDA (earnings just before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) basis for the previous 5 years by way of 2020.

Netmarble, one of the biggest and most productive mobile gaming corporations in the world, previously led a $130 million equity investment in Jam City in 2015. In 2019, Jam City raised $145 million in strategic financing led by a bank syndicate like Joint Lead Arrangers JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch with Silicon Valley Bank, Truist Securities and CIT Bank.

Jam City will use proceeds from the financing to assist additional its tactic to construct out its portfolio of games by way of each organic development and acquisitions, DeWolfe mentioned. He mentioned the funds raised today will assist the business continue with each possibilities.

“There are a lot of great opportunities out there,” DeWolfe mentioned.

Cookie Jam franchise has more than $800 million in lifetime bookings and Panda Pop has generated $400 million in lifetime bookings to date.

Jam City has more than 850 staff in studios situated in Los Angeles, Burbank, Cedar Falls, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco and, internationally, in Berlin, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Toronto. Ludia has more than 400 staff and is based in Montreal.

As for the stock industry, DeWolfe mentioned that the public markets have slowed down when it comes to game corporations going public. The SPACs are getting more scrutiny, and the industry was crowded.

“It became harder to tell our story in this environment because there were so many SPACs that hit the market at the same time,” he mentioned. “It took longer and began to diverse from what our goals were, and the market got a lot more choppy at the same time.”


Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz

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