Nazara Technologies Ltd on Tuesday announced that it would acquire US-based children’s interactive entertainment company WildWorks. The diversified gaming and sports media company will acquire 100 percent of WildWorks and its IP from existing shareholders in an all-cash transaction.

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WildWorks revenues stood at $13.8 million in CY21 and $5.8 million in H1CY22.

Shares of Nazara Technologies, which was backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, jumped as much as 2.6 percent to touch an intraday high of Rs 647.35. The shares were trading 1.8 percent up on BSE at the time of writing.

Nitish Mittersain, founder and MD of Nazara, said: "With its strong brand presence and talented Utah-based development team, WildWorks enables us to solidify our leadership position in the gamified learning space for kids."

He said WildWorks has earned the trust of millions of families through their approach to safe social gameplay in Animal Jam, and Nazara’s global capabilities will help bring those experiences to millions more.

WildWorks CEO Stacey said joining Nazara would enable a new phase of growth for the company and enable international reach for WildWorks and its games.

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Nitish Mittersain, Nazara Tech told CNBC-TV18 that the gamified learning business has been impacted due to changes in privacy policy by Google. He added that e-sports as a trend can be seen a tailwind. Nazara tech will maintain a margin between 12-14 percent this year, he said.

#OnCNBCTV18 | Nitish Mittersain of Nazara Technologies adds, Gamified learning business impacted due to changes in privacy policy by Google pic.twitter.com/d3RzFze3EX

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) August 30, 2022Nazara Tech recently reported strong earnings for the April-June quarter with total revenue at Rs 223.1 crore, a 70 percent growth from Rs 131.2 crore in the corresponding period last year.

e-Sports contributed the most to the growth. The revenue for e-sports stood at Rs 102.3 crore, up 92 percent from Rs 53 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The company has been on a buying spree of late. In August, the mobile gaming company said it would acquire a 100 percent stake in Hyderabad-based skill gaming company OpenPlay Technologies for Rs 186.41 crore in one or more tranches from Sreeram Reddy Vanga and Unnati Management Consultants.

Last year in October, Nazara said it had invested Rs 83.5 crore in Paper Boat Apps, a Mumbai-based indie studio. The company has acquired a majority stake of 51 percent at a pre-money valuation of Rs 154 crore. Paper Boat Apps is the creator and publisher of Kiddopia, a subscription-based preschool edutainment app.

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First Published:Aug 30, 2022 9:59 AM IST