Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS), the technical services provider to the global video games industry, is on the acquisition trail again – this time in Eastern Europe.
It has acquired Sperasoft Inc and Sperasoft Studio LLC for US$27mln from the founders, all of whom will remain with the business.
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US$22mln of the consideration will be satisfied in cash, with the remainder satisfied through the issue of 260,049 Keywords shares to the sellers on the first anniversary of the acquisition.
Although headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Sperasoft has production studios in St Petersburg and Volgograd, Russia and Krakow, Poland, from which it provides game development, art creation and software engineering services to video game developers and publishers around the world.
Sperasoft’s clients have included Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Warner Bros and Riot Games.
Keywords said Sperasoft adds considerable expertise and scale to the UK company’s new and growing Engineering Services business and adds additional scale to the Art creation business.
Sperasoft also provides Keywords with production centres and supporting management in Russia and Poland, both of which are important locations for video game services talent across all of Keywords’ service lines.
The acquisition is expected to enhance Keywords’ earnings in the first year of ownership. Sperasoft’s revenue last year clocked in at US$16mln and is expected to grow this year to around US$20mln. Underlying earnings (EBITDA) are expected to be around US$2mln this year.
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"The acquisition of Sperasoft provides us with an entry point into co-development, positioning us as a strategic partner to games developers at the early stages of the games development lifecycle. As games are becoming bigger and are higher definition, game developers are increasingly relying upon co-development arrangements with companies like Sperasoft to provide them with broader capability to develop both initial games and additional content and features post-launch,” said Andrew Day, the chief executive officer of Keywords.
"Sperasoft adds considerably to our engineering services division which we intend to continue to build organically and through acquisition, as well as significantly enlarging our range of services and geographic footprint,” he added.