TIDMKWS
RNS Number : 7134W
Keywords Studios PLC
23 April 2019
23 April 2019
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
Acquisition of Wizcorp Inc.
Geographic expansion of Keywords Engineering Service line into
the Japanese game development market
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider
to the global video games industry, today announces that it has
acquired the entire issued share capital of Wizcorp Inc.
("Wizcorp") for a cash consideration of JPY 120m from Ankama SAS
("Ankama") and Silicon Studio Corporation (the "Sellers").
Based in Tokyo, Japan, Wizcorp develops games on behalf of
others mainly in the mobile space, with particular expertise in
HTML5 and other mobile technologies. Wizcorp was established in
2008 and has provided game development as a service to a wide
variety of Japanese publishers and developers such as LINE, Square
Enix, Avex, Yahoo Japan, and Bandai Namco, as well as undertaking
game development for its parent company, Ankama.
Wizcorp's 35-person strong team, led by CEO Guillaume Hansali,
is made up of talented software engineers and artists from around
the world. With annual revenues of JPY 310m, it is well established
in the fast-paced Japanese mobile development market. The
acquisition extends Keywords' Engineering Service line by providing
a platform for expansion in Japan's games development market, one
of the largest in the world. Whilst the business has not been a
profit centre under its existing ownership structure, we would
expect it to be able to achieve margins at similar levels to
Keywords' existing Engineering Service line once we align it with
our existing operations and build up its scale.
Christopher Kennedy, Regional Managing Director - Asia of
Keywords Studios commented:
"We are thrilled to welcome Guillaume and the Wizcorp team to
join our fast-growing operations in Tokyo where we already employ
300 people. Japan is one of the world's most significant game
development hubs and has a long history in this industry. Keywords
is excited at the opportunities Wizcorp will bring the Group and
its clients in the Japanese market as it becomes the latest member
of our global Engineering service line. Wizcorp's HTML5 expertise
is a valuable extension to our console, mobile and PC games
development skills, which is particularly interesting in the
context of Snap's recent launch of its HTML5 based gaming
platform.
"We look forward to replicating the success of our previous
transaction with our long-standing client, Ankama, which saw us
acquire their 23 people strong captive player support operation in
Manila in March 2016 before building it into a multi-client player
support hub that now employs 700 people. We see a strong
opportunity to accelerate Wizcorp's growth by building on its
existing services for some of Ankama's game development needs and
providing it with opportunities to work with Keywords' extensive
client base."
For further information, please contact:
Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com)
Andrew Day, Chief Executive Officer
David Broderick, Chief Financial Officer
Giacomo Duranti, Chief Operating Officer +353 190 22 730
Numis (Financial Adviser)
Stuart Skinner / Kevin Cruickshank
(Nominated Adviser)
James Black / Tom Ballard (Corporate
Broker) 020 7260 1000
MHP Communications (Financial PR) 020 3128 8100
Katie Hunt / Ollie Hoare keywords@mhpc.com
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 over 50 facilities in 21 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 of approximately 850 clients across the
globe.
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, Epic Games and
Ubisoft. Recent titles worked on include Uncharted 4: A Thief's
End, Call of Duty: WWII, Mortal Combat X, Assassin's Creed Origins,
Battlefield 1, League of Legends, Fortnite, Clash Royale and
Rainbow Six Siege. Keywords Studios is listed on AIM, the London
Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L).
About Wizcorp (www.wizcorp.jp)
Established in 2008, Wizcorp is a Tokyo-based game development
company focused on providing end-to-end services for games and
other types of highly interactive content, including conception,
development, production, and live operations. Well-known for its
cutting-edge HTML5 and mobile games, Wizcorp aims at creating
mind-expanding game experiences by always pushing the limits of the
possible. In the last 10 years, Wizcorp has worked or collaborated
on more than 30 titles released in over 10 countries, with
companies such as LINE, Avex, Bandai Namco, Square Enix and Yahoo!
Japan.
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END
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