Playtika, a social casino and casual mobile games pioneer, has agreed to pay $89.4 million to $165 million to acquire Azerion‘s Youda Games portfolio of games.
The acquisition ranges in price from an initial cash consideration of $89.4 million as well as an earnout based on performance that could take the total price up to $165 million, or 150 million euros.
“The acquisition of Youda Games’ card game portfolio, with its strong IP, is in line with Playtika’s strategic incremental growth approach of leveraging our unrivaled LiveOps expertise and proprietary technology stack to optimize and scale games, strengthening our market position,” said Craig Abrahams, president and CFO of Playtika, in a statement. “We believe this acquisition will be accretive to our financial performance and is part of our strategy to acquire proven franchises where we can add value.”
Azerion Group is one of Europe’s largest digital advertising and entertainment media platforms. With the deal, Playtika will pick up titles such as the social card themed game Governor of Poker 3.
“Over the past few years, we have transformed our business by scaling our digital advertising capabilities, developing our strategic portfolio of partner-led content and extending the presence and reach of our in-market commercial teams,” said Azerion Group’s chief revenue officer Sebastiaan Moesman, in a statement. “As a result of this dynamic shift towards our digital advertising platform, social card games have become less strategic for Azerion, whilst remaining an attractive investment opportunity for an industry partner such as Playtika. This divestment will further simplify our business and help us to continue investing in and delivering on our growth ambitions.”
The transaction is currently expected to complete by the end of the third quarter 2023 subject to closing conditions. Amsterdam-based Azerion will provide further information relating to the transaction alongside its interim financial results for Q2 and H1 2023.
Playtika, based in Herzliya, Israel, was founded in 2010. Its foundation is in free-to-play social games on social networks and mobile devices.