Excellent news1 Jun 2020 22:28
and explains the late jump in the SP. Z ynga Inc ("Zynga") enters into agreement to acquire 100% of Peak Games for $1.8 billion
Draper Esprit (LSE: GROW, Euronext Growth: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, notes the announcement released by Zynga to enter into an agreement to acquire Istanbul-based mobile games developer Peak Games for $1.8 billion, comprised of approx. $900 million in cash and approx. $900 million of Zynga common stock. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2020.
In January 2019, Draper Esprit announced that it had furthered its strategic partnership with Earlybird Digital West ("Earlybird"), a German Venture Capital firm with a focus on early stage investments in Europe, by acquiring a 27% interest in Earlybird's EB IV fund for approx. EUR63 million (approx. GBP55 million).
As a result of this investment in the EB IV fund, Draper Esprit acquired underlying holdings in nine high growth technology companies including Istanbul-headquartered games developer Peak Games.
The agreement for Zynga to acquire Peak Games will, once closed, indicate a fair value holding for Draper Esprit in Peak of approx. GBP80 million (depending upon the Zynga share price at the time), which is a GBP12 million (approx. 10p NAV per share) uplift to the fair value referenced in the recent trading statement.
So an extra 10p in NAV plus I note Zynga shares are up in tandem today. Given the rather late in the afternoon timing I would think the market had not time to properly react so we may see a push to 500p on the ask early doors. Usefully this capital can be redeployed at a time when Tech companies are growing fast due to Global lockdowns but markets and valuations are generally soggy due to sell-offs, though now recovering. Still loads more value to be unlocked here.