Mercia Asset Regulatory News (MERC)

Mercia Technologies PLC

("Mercia", "the Company" or "the Group")

Digital & Digital Entertainment Portfolio Update

Mercia Technologies PLC (AIM: MERC), which is focused on the creation, funding and scaling of innovative technology businesses with high growth potential from the UK regions, is pleased to provide an update on the strong recent commercial performance across its Digital & Digital Entertainment portfolio. The Company's Digital & Digital Entertainment direct investments Edge Case Games, nDreams and Soccer Manager are all achieving high levels of consumer engagement and commercial interest from strategic partners within their target sectors.

Edge Case Games, a free-to-play, games-as-a-service business, officially launched its PC-based tactical space combat game, Fractured Space, on 22 September 2016. In the first two weeks, the game has already achieved over 200,000 installations and is ahead of its revenue targets. Key metrics measured during the launch weekend are matching those of global market leaders in the free-to-play PC games market.

nDreams, a virtual reality ("VR") videogames developer and publisher, will release its first major game, The Assembly, as a launch title for Playstation VR on 13 October 2016. The day one release of The Assembly on Playstation VR is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presented by this new platform, as Sony's new device is expected to have the largest installed base of any high-end VR headset in the run-up to the peak Christmas period. In addition, nDreams has announced the planned publication of Danger Goat, a launch title for Daydream, Google's new platform for high-quality mobile VR which was revealed as part of Google's showcase event on 4 October 2016. nDreams has also been named alongside the BBC as one of four European founding members of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts ("BAFTA") VR Advisory Group. This follows on from the launch of The Assembly, on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on 19 July 2016, which achieved the number one ranking in the Oculus store. 

Soccer Manager, a developer of online football management games, launched its latest single player game, Soccer Manager 2017, for PC, Android and iOS on 12 September 2016. The company has also begun development of an app, Soccer Manager Arena, which is currently in Beta testing mode. Soccer Manager is now seeking to build on the strong interest it has seen from potential Chinese publishing partners in order to penetrate the Chinese mobile gaming market, currently the largest in the world. The company is engaged in discussions with a number of potential partners and sees an exciting opportunity for growth in this region.

Mercia has been instrumental in building and supporting its investee companies as they establish commercial traction and continue to generate revenues. In order to further enhance the development of its investments, Mercia has also recently created a Digital & Digital Entertainment Advisory Board, which works alongside Mercia's Digital & Digital Entertainment investment team to help identify trends and growth areas within the sector. The Board is led by Mercia's Director of Digital & Digital Entertainment, Mike Hayes, who was formerly CEO of SEGA Europe and America. The Board also includes Nick Parker, Matt Woodley and Rob Precious, who together have over 70 years' experience in the gaming industry.

Mike Hayes, Investment Director and Head of Digital & Digital Entertainment at Mercia, said:

"Mercia's Digital & Digital Entertainment portfolio is growing at a very impressive rate, with all three businesses mentioned above achieving a high level of commercial awareness, both nationally and internationally.

"I look forward to further supporting these businesses with the help of the newly appointed Digital Advisory Board, as well as identifying further 'Emerging Stars' from the third party funds for direct investment, thus helping them to achieve their potential in the same way that Edge Case Games, nDreams and Soccer Manager are currently demonstrating."

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About Mercia

Mercia is a national investment group focused on the creation, funding and scaling of innovative businesses with high growth potential from the UK regions. Mercia employs 60 people across six offices and it has one of the largest university networks in the UK with 18 university partnerships across the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland. These partnerships provide access to high quality, regional deal flow which accounts for approximately one third of Mercia's investments.

Mercia's 'Complete Capital Solution' enables it to scale businesses via its third party funds (with more than £220.0million under management) and then over time Mercia identifies its 'Emerging Stars' which it can provide further capital to using its own balance sheet.

Mercia focuses on sourcing and scaling businesses across four sectors: Digital & Digital Entertainment; Life Sciences and Bio-sciences; Software & the Internet and; Electronics, Materials & Manufacturing/Engineering. 

In a recent report (Source: Beauhurst, The Deal, 2015/16), Mercia was found to be the fifth most active investor in the UK and the fourth most active in technology. Since its IPO in December 2014, the Company continues to seek early stage third party investment opportunities and it has directly invested over £24.0million across its portfolio of 'Emerging Stars'. In addition to providing its direct investments with the required capital, Mercia also supports the management teams to build towards exits that will realise incremental value for Mercia shareholders over the medium term.

The Mercia Group comprises Mercia Technologies PLC, Mercia Fund Management Ltd and Enterprise Ventures Group Ltd. Mercia is quoted on AIM with the epic "MERC".