Keywords Studios Plc Regulatory News (KWS)

19th October 2017

Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")

Acquisition of d3t LtdExpansion of Engineering Service Line

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired d3t ltd ("d3t"), for a total consideration of £3 million from the founders Jamie Campbell and Stephen Powell and others (the "Sellers").

Based in the North West of England, between Liverpool and Manchester, d3t delivers premium quality outsourced software development services for video game developers and publishers internationally.

The acquisition of d3t is in line with Keywords Studios' strategy to grow organically and by acquisition as it selectively consolidates the highly fragmented market for video game services. d3t brings additional skills, client relationships and geographic reach to Keywords, extending the strength and scale of its recently established Engineering service line.

Founded in 2011 and now employing 44 staff, d3t is an award-winning software development company with capabilities including HD re-mastering, porting, optimisation, rendering and game systems development. Over the course of the last six years they have delivered consistent high quality across dozens of projects for clients such as SEGA, Codemasters, Sony XDev and the BBC.

Jamie Campbell and Stephen Powell, along with the rest of d3t team, will remain with the business.

In the year ended 31st of July 2017, d3t achieved revenues of £2.8 million and an underlying adjusted pre-tax profit of £0.4 million.

Under the terms of the acquisition Keywords is paying a consideration comprised of £2.4m in cash and the issue of 42,368 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a two-year lock in period.

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 42,368 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 24 October 2017. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 56,211,141 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 56,211,141 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.

Giacomo Duranti, Chief Operating Officer, commented:

"The acquisition of d3t complements our recent acquisition GameSim's capabilities to extend the services, scale and geographical presence of our Engineering offering. With increasing demand in the video games industry for reliable, high-quality outsourced software engineering services, we are building a strong offering to support our clients globally.

We are delighted to welcome the highly talented and experienced team at d3t to the Keywords family and we look forward to working closely together to build upon the company's excellent reputation, track record and client relationships."

Jamie Campbell commented:

"We are delighted to be joining the Keywords Group. d3t was founded with the sole aim of being an invaluable external development partner to the games industry and other interactive sectors. Over the course of six years we have become leaders in the field of high-value engineering offering a professional, wide ranging service.

We feel there is a great deal of synergy with Keywords' strategy to be the very best technical service provider to the video games industry, and we look forward to our continued expansion as part of the Group."

For further information, please contact:

About Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com)

Keywords Studios is an international technical services provider to the global video games industry. Established in 1998, it provides integrated art services, software engineering, audio services, testing, localization and player support services across 50 languages and 14 games platforms to a blue-chip client base in more than 15 countries. It has a strong market position, providing services to 23 of the top 25 most prominent games companies, including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Konami, Riot Games, Sony, Square Enix, Supercell, TakeTwo, and Ubisoft. Recent titles worked on include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Mortal Combat X, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Battlefield 1, Overwatch, World of Warcraft: Legion, Hearthstone, Clash Royale, and Mobile Strike. Keywords Studios is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L). 

About 3dt (www.d3tltd.com)

Established in 2011, 3dt is a successful work-for-hire software development company that delivers premium quality outsourced game development services to studios and publishers globally. It provides development services including full game development, HD remakes / re-masters, porting / platform conversions, liveOps as well as 2D and 3D Art Services. It also provides consulting services such as rendering and optimisation, game feature development and bug fixing. Clients include SEGA, RealTime UK and the BBC.