Alantra advises Asobo Studio on the sale of a minority stake to Sagard NewGen
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Paris – Alantra, the global mid-market investment banking and asset management specialist, is announcing today that it has advised French video game developer Asobo Studio on the sale of a minority stake to investment fund Sagard NewGen. Alantra acted as advisor to Asobo Studio.
Founded in 2002 and based in Bordeaux, France, Asobo Studio is a leading independent PC and gaming developer. The company has worked together with major industry players—Disney Pixar, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and Focus Home Interactive—and has developed or co-developed 24 games, including key entertainment franchises as well as original creations. These games include Microsoft Flight Simulator, winner of the “Best Simulation/Best Strategy Game” at the French Game Awards 2020, with over 2 million unique users to date; A Plague Tale: Innocence, which sold over 1 million copies to date and won 6 Pégases at the 2019 French video game awards ceremony, including “Best Game of the Year” as well as the Outstanding Story-Rich Game Steam Award 2019; and the off-road racing game FUEL that set a Guinness World Record in 2009 for having the largest playable environment ever in a console game.
This is the fifth transaction advised by Alantra France in the video games sector in the past 12 months. Other deals include advising the shareholders of Saber Interactive on the sale to Embracer Group for $525m; advising French video game developer Don’t Nod on its capital reorganization, and advising the founders of InnoGames, a leading German online games developer and publisher, on the sale of a 17% stake to MTG.
Cédric Lagarrigue, senior advisor at Alantra, said, “I am proud to have signed Asobo Studio’s fantastic game, A Plague Tale: Innocence, in 2016 when I was president of Focus Home Interactive. Years later, I am equally thrilled to accompany them through this transaction, which will enable the studio to continue its growth trajectory while preserving its strategic and creative autonomy.”
