Investment news – digest from May 25 to 31

The material was prepared specifically for App2Top.ru Sergey Evdokimov, Investment Manager Mail.Ru Games Ventures and the author of the telegram channel Gaming – M&As and Investments.

Sergey Evdokimov

1. Zynga has started a takeover deal Peak Games

On Sunday, May 31, information about the negotiations between the two companies appeared. On the first of June, it was officially confirmed on the pages of Bloomberg. So, Zynga buys the Turkish mobile game developer Peak Games for $1.8 billion, of which $900 million will be paid in cash, and the rest of the amount will be issued by Zynga shares. The deal should close in the 3rd quarter of 2020.

2. Voodoo may get new investors

Some of Voodoo‘s investors are ready to put their stake in the company up for sale. According to Bloomberg, potential buyers have already received marketing documents describing the business. Voodoo may be valued at $1.6 billion as a result of the transaction.

Rolly Legs (Voodoo)

3. NetEase will conduct a secondary placement of shares

The Chinese gaming company NetEase, traded on the US NASDAQ exchange (current capitalization of $52 billion), announced a secondary placement (SPO) of shares worth up to $ 2.5 billion in Hong Kong. The reason was the tightening of US legislation regarding non-resident companies trading in the States. NetEase will become the second major Chinese company to list shares on the local Hong Kong Stock Exchange after e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Fantasy Westward Journey (NetEase)

4. Tencent has announced plans to spend on Marvelous

The largest video game company in the world, Tencent, continues to invest in game studios around the world. This time, the company is going to spend $65 million to acquire 20% of the Japanese developer of console and mobile games Marvelous (TSE: 7844).

In 2003, Marvelous released Friends of Mineral Town, one of the most successful games in the Harvest Moon series (now the series is officially called Story of Seasons in the West). The game is very close in gameplay and setting to the blockbuster game Animal Crossing from Nintendo.

STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town (Marvelous)

5. The countries of southern Europe subsidize the gaming industry

The Italian and Spanish governments have approved funds that provide funding to game studios. In Italy, the First Playable Fund for €4 million was approved, in Spain – the CREA SGR fund for €20 million.

Madrid, Spain

6. In Africa, they also invest in games

African mobile game publisher Carry1st has attracted a seed investment of $2.5 million. The company localizes and publishes games on the local market. In total, together with the last round of financing, the company raised about $ 4 million.

Carry1st

7. Dating for gamers received $2 million for development

The developer of the platform for dating and social communication between Kippo players has attracted $2 million in investments. The lead investor in the deal was the Primer Sazze Partners fund with the participation of NextGen Venture, IHeartComix and several unnamed top managers of Tinder.

Kippo