LONDON (Alliance News) - Gaming Realms PLC Friday said it has conducted a a large placing to fund the acquisition of numerous assets from RealNetworks Inc.
The online gaming product developer said it has conditionally agreed to acquire the assets from RealNetworks for a total consideration of USD18 million, of which USD10 million will be paid on completion followed by two deferred tranches of USD4 million paid one and two years after the deal is completed respectively.
Realnetwork has the choice for up to USD4 million of the USD8 million deferred payment to be paid in Gaming Realms shares.
To fund the initial consideration of the acquisition, Gaming Realms has issued 50.0 million new shares in the company at 25.0 pence per share to raise GBP12.5 million, which will fund up to USD14 million of the total consideration.
Prior to the placing, which is still conditional, Gaming Realms had just over 195.1 million shares in issue, meaning its share capital would increase by just under 20% after/if the placing is completed.
That discounted price saw Gaming Realms shares fall 3.2% to 30.00 pence per share on Friday morning.
In return, Gaming Realms will acquire GameHouse US and Canadian Game studios; the Social and Mobile Freemium portfolio of games and publishing network; the Slingo Brand and associated patents; certain game domains including Sudoku.com and Mahjong.com; an intellectual property licence relating to the GameHouse Promotion Network and the entire issued share capital of Backstage Technologies.
The company said the acquisitions give it an entry point into the North American market whilst the Slingo brand will open up the social casino gaming segment of online gaming. It also said the deal brings an experienced management team with sector experience from companies such as GTECH, Aristocrat, Double Down Interactive and Xbox Live.
"Slingo is a well-established brand and has already benefited from sitting on our platform alongside our Pocket Fruity and Spin Genie brands. The addition of Slingo to our existing portfolio creates an exciting player offering," said Chief executive Patrick Southon.
"The directors believe that the acquisition will transform the group into an international, multi-brand developer in real and casual gaming and that it will greatly enhance the Group's capabilities in development, distribution, marketing and ownership of intellectual property," he added.
Both the acquisition and placing are conditional on shareholder approval at a meeting due to be held on August 10.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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Gaming Realms (GMR)