Keyword Studios PLC (LON:KWS) has completed its fifth acquisition of the year, snapping up fellow video games services provider Blindlight in a deal worth up to US$10mln (£7.5mln).
The AIM-quoted group has already shelled out £10mln on games trailer maker Fire Without Smoke and audio specialists Cord, Maximal Studio and Laced Music.
READ: Keywords buys video games trailer specialist for £5.2mln
Hollywood-based Blindlight works with some of the industry’s biggest publishers and developers – Sony, Ubisoft and Bethesda are all clients – to recruit the A-list celebs who often lend their voices and image to video games, especially titles born out of a film series.
Blindlight also offers voiceover production, game writing, music, sound design and motion capture services, in addition to celebrity acquisition and rights management.
“Keywords and Blindlight have got to know each other well over the past three years and we see good opportunities to leverage both businesses to offer a wider range of world leading services to our clients,” said chief executive Andrew Day.
“Following our recent acquisition of music services companies, Cord Worldwide and Laced, we see excellent opportunities for Blindlight to bring these services to Los Angeles, as well as providing access to further opportunities for our downstream production services of translation and localised voice over.”
US$1mln a year
Blindlight generated underlying earnings (EBITDA) averaging US$1mln a year for the three-year period to 31 December 2017.
Under the terms of the deal, Keywords will pay US$3.64mln upfront and issue 64,521 new shares to Blindlight’s founder in 12 months’ time.
The remaining US$4.8mln is subject to performance milestones and will be paid out on the first and second anniversaries of the acquisition.
In early morning trading, Keyord Studio shares were 1.8% higher at 1,840p.
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