Keywords Studios Plc Regulatory News (KWS)

15th December 2017

Keywords Studios plc

("Keywords Studios", "the Group")

Acquisition of LOLA, Mexico City

Strengthening the Group's Audio Service Line

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired the assets and business of Localizadora Latam SC ("LOLA") for a total consideration of up to US$1.03m from its founders, Alejandro González and Luis Daniel Ramírez. Based in Mexico City, LOLA provides Latin American Spanish dubbing, localisation and sound design services for the video game, film and television markets, with clients including Warner Bros and Ubisoft.

Founded in 2013, LOLA has built a reputation for quality and Keywords Studios currently uses the services of LOLA to complement those of its wholly owned local voice recording studio, Kite Team Mexico. Following the acquisition, Keywords' existing Kite Team operations in Mexico City will be integrated with those of LOLA to create the market leading provider of services for Latin American Spanish localised video games.

LOLA had revenues of US$1.2m in 2016. In the year to 31 December 2017 the company is expected to maintain this performance, with an estimated normalised PBT of US$250,000. Approximately 40% of its revenues relate to work subcontracted from Keywords Studios.

Under the terms of the acquisition Keywords is paying a consideration comprised of US$480,000 in cash and the issue of 10,106 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a one-year lock in period. Keywords will pay a further amount of up to $350,000 in cash over the next 2 years dependent on LOLA achieving certain performance targets.

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 10,106 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 20 December 2017. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 61,707,732 ordinary shares of one penny each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 61,707,732 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.

Andrea Ballista, Global Audio Service Line Director, Keywords Studios commented:

"We are thrilled to have Alejandro, Luis and the rest of the LOLA team joining the Audio Service Line. Their skills and experience and access to talented voice actors in Mexico will increase our capacity for Latin American Spanish recording services and their expertise in dubbing film, TV and animated series will help extend our services in those markets."

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About Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com)

Keywords Studios is an international technical services provider to the global video games industry. Established in 1998, and now with 42 facilities in 20 countries strategically located in Asia, the Americas and Europe, it provides integrated art creation, software engineering, testing, localisation, audio and customer care services across more than 50 languages and 16 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 Localizadora Latam "LOLA" (www.lolamx.com)

Based in Mexico City, LOLA is a company with broad experience in finding and identifying talents for Latin American Spanish dubbing. LOLA's leadership brings more than 20 years of experience to the dubbing industry and 15 years in the audio design area, working on adapting content into Latin American Spanish, always exceeding their clients' expectations. LOLA has been working on major video-games titles such as Shadow of War, Assassin's Creed Syndicate and Halo.