Zona de Azar Australia – Aristocrat Sells “RAID: Shadow Legends” for u$s 820 Million
Australia – November 13, 2024 www.zonadeazar.com The Australian gaming machine giant Aristocrat Leisure has agreed to sell its mobile game developer Plarium for up to 820 million dollars to Stockholm-listed Modern Times, as it shifts its focus towards real-money gaming markets.
The deal price includes a fixed consideration of 620 million dollars and a contingent consideration of up to 200 million dollars, subject to achieving certain financial targets between the years 2025 and 2028.
Aristocrat’s shares fell 1.1% after reaching an all-time high of 66.10 Australian dollars in early trading, while the broader benchmark index dropped slightly by 0.3%.
Plarium Global, the game development studio known for creating RAID: Shadow Legends, an acclaimed squad-based RPG, is a good fit with Modern Times, and the deal results in one of the strongest mid-core mobile gaming portfolios in the industry, said Modern Times in a separate statement.
The newly merged entity is expected to achieve over 12 billion Swedish krona (1.11 billion dollars) in annual revenue, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) exceeding 3 billion Swedish krona, stated Modern Times.
The sale of Plarium by Aristocrat’s Pixel United division follows a strategic review of the group’s casual and mid-core gaming portfolio announced in May.
Pixel United’s bookings for RPG, strategy, and action games in the first half fell to 283.7 million Australian dollars (186.5 million dollars) from 296.4 million Australian dollars, while casual game bookings dropped to 97.2 million Australian dollars from 104.6 million Australian dollars. Aristocrat is expected to release its 2024 annual results on Wednesday.
Aristocrat stated that its strategic review of Big Fish Games, another unit of Pixel United, is ongoing, noting a 110-million-dollar impairment charge on the goodwill for the business.
Citi analysts noted that, while Big Fish remains pending divestment, the sale of Plarium addresses a key bearish concern due to digital forecasts for fiscal 2025 falling below consensus, which they said they would review after Aristocrat’s results.
Edited by: @_fonta www.zonadeazar.com
