Last checked at 28 Jul 2017 07:00
28 July 2017
Frontier Developments plc
Announces Strategic Investment by Tencent Holdings Limited
Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV; "Frontier" or the "Company"), a leading independent creator and publisher of video games, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a subscription agreement with Tencent Holdings Limited ("Tencent"), a leading Internet and interactive entertainment company based in China, under which Tencent has agreed to make a strategic investment in Frontier. This is a strategic step for Frontier as it will accelerate and improve Frontier's access to the growing and already very significant Chinese market.
Tencent serves hundreds of millions of Internet users every day, operating the leading social networks, game platform, video service, literature platform, music service, and media platform on the Internet in China. Tencent has invested in several innovative and successful game developers and publishers globally, including Riot Games, Supercell, Miniclip, Epic Games, Netmarble, Activision Blizzard and Paradox Interactive.
Tencent has subscribed for 3,386,252 newly issued ordinary shares of 0.5 pence each ("the New Shares") in the Company at a price of 523.2 pence per share. The price paid per share has been calculated as the last 20 trading days volume weighted average price (VWAP) immediately prior to subscription. The New Shares represent approximately 9.9% of the issued share capital of the Company prior to the issue of the New Shares, and 9.0% after the issue of the New Shares.
Frontier has applied to the London Stock Exchange for the New Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that admission will become effective in early August 2017. Following the issue of the New Shares, the Company's issued share capital will consist of 37,616,781 ordinary shares. The Company holds no ordinary shares in Treasury.
Frontier intends that the proceeds of £17.7 million will augment the Company's existing cash resources (£12.6 million at end May 2017) and allow it to continue to accelerate its investment in scaling up its operations and growing its number of franchises to build on the success of its transition to self-publishing.
David Braben, Chief Executive of Frontier, said:
"Tencent is the market leader in the online games industry in China and operating a premium PC games distribution platform, WeGame. This strategic investment will both help drive our scale up, and improve access and accelerate our growth into the key Chinese market. Tencent will be a powerful partner for Frontier, in what will soon be the world's largest market for entertainment."James Mitchell, Chief Strategy Officer at Tencent, said:"Frontier's teams utilize highly scalable game engine technology, decades of development experience, and increasingly sophisticated live operations skills to provide highly-engaged players with complex and beautiful game worlds. We believe that gamers in China will become increasingly interested in game genres such as space exploration, theme park management and other segments well-suited to Frontier's strengths, and look forward to helping Frontier reach those future users."
Enquiries:
Frontier Developments | +44 (0)1223 394 300 |
David Braben, CEO Alex Bevis, CFO David Walsh, COO
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Numis - Nomad and Joint Broker | +44 (0)20 7260 1000 |
Simon Willis / Jamie Lillywhite (Nomad) / Toby Adcock
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Finncap | +44 (0) 207 220 0500 |
Matt Goode / Giles Rolls
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Tulchan Communications | +44 (0) 207 353 4200 |
James Macey White / Matt Low
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About Frontier Developments plc
Frontier Developments plc, listed on the AIM stock market (AIM: FDEV), is a leading independent creator of self-published videogame franchises founded in 1994 by David Braben, co-author of the seminal 'Elite' game. Based in Cambridge, Frontier uses its proprietary 'COBRA' game development technology to create innovative games, currently focusing on videogame consoles and personal computers.
www.frontier.co.uk
About Elite Dangerous
Elite Dangerous - available for Windows PC, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Xbox One and Sony Playstation 4 - is the definitive massively multiplayer space epic, bringing gaming's original open world adventure to the modern generation with a connected galaxy, evolving narrative and the entirety of the Milky Way re-created at its full galactic proportions.
www.elitedangerous.com
About Planet Coaster
Planet Coaster - available for Windows PC - builds on Frontier's genre-defining expertise with coaster park games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and Thrillville. It further raises the bar for this popular genre, allowing players to let their imaginations run wild as they surprise, delight and thrill incredible crowds, and share their success with the world via the Steam Workshop community.
www.planetcoaster.com