Alantra advises InnoGames’ founders on the sale of a 17% stake to MTG and the establishment of a new holding company for gaming investments
SECTORTechnology
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Frankfurt – Alantra, the independent global mid-market investment banking, alternative asset management and credit portfolio advisory firm, has advised the founders of InnoGames, a leading German developer and publisher of online and mobile games, on the sale of a 17% stake to Modern Times Group (“MTG”). The transaction further involves the establishment of a new holding company for gaming investments under MTG’s and InnoGames founders’ joint ownership.
InnoGames is Germany’s leading developer and publisher of online and mobile games, including several successful online games such as ‘Forge of Empires’, ‘Elvenar’ and ‘Tribal Wars’. InnoGames focuses on high-quality free-to-play strategy and city builder games and has demonstrated 13 years of consecutive double-digit growth since its foundation in 2007. InnoGames passed the €1 bn lifetime revenue milestone in November 2019 and is demonstrating an outstanding performance in 2020.
MTG, a listed Swedish digital entertainment group comprising e-sports, gaming and further global digital assets, announced its initial 21% investment in InnoGames in 2016 and increased its ownership to 51% in 2017. As InnoGames continues to deliver strong performance, MTG has decided to exercise one of its outstanding call options to increase its ownership in the company to 68%.
Furthermore, a new holding company has been created, MTG Gaming (“GamingCo”), to which 100% of the shares in InnoGames and further MTG gaming assets are transferred. Through GamingCo, MTG and InnoGames’ founders are planning to pursue acquisitions in the global gaming space. The acquisition of UK-based developer and publisher of free-to-play mobile racing games Hutch marks the first investment of GamingCo. InnoGames’ founders will hold 22.65% of the outstanding shares in GamingCo following both transactions.
Hendrik Klindworth, InnoGames’ co-founder and CEO, commented: “2020 has been another record-breaking year for InnoGames and we are excited to boost the new GamingCo’s performance with our extensive experience. We already have a successful long-term relationship with MTG, and we see great value in aligning even closer by building up a strong gaming group together with a clear focus on free-to-play casual and mid-core games. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the Alantra team for their excellent advice in this transaction, based on their sector competence and valuation expertise.”
Wolfram Schmerl, Managing Partner in Alantra Germany, added: “It was a great pleasure to advise the founders of InnoGames on this complex cross-border transaction. We are thrilled for InnoGames’ founders that they are taking this next step in building a strong gaming group together with MTG which will bring exciting growth opportunities.” This transaction, as well as having advised the shareholders of Saber Interactive on the sale to Embracer Group earlier this year, is a further add-on to Alantra’s advisory track record in the global technology and gaming industry.
