Listed gaming firm Nazara Technologies Wednesday said the company has earmarked $100 million (Rs 830 crore) for merger and acquisition opportunities, as it gears up to increase its global presence over the next two years.
The Mumbai-based firm, which raised Rs 250 crore ($30 million) about two months back from new and existing investors as a part of its Rs 750-crore fundraising plan, is eyeing opportunities within the gaming, esports and adtech arenas to deploy its warchest, it said.
In January, the founder Nitish Mittersain said the company had Rs 1,500 crore in consolidated cash reserves to pursue both organic and inorganic growth opportunities.
It will particularly focus on businesses with established gaming IP’s or studios, the ones with offerings in cutting-edge technologies like web3, Virtual Reality, and AI, it said.
Nazara, founded in 2000, offers a diversified gaming and sports media platform with presence in India and across global markets such as Africa and North America. It has offerings across interactive gaming, e-sports, adtech and gamified early learning ecosystems.
The company is backed by investors such as Nikhil Kamath, ICICI Prudential MF and Plutus Wealth Management. In October 2021, Nazara had raised Rs 315.3 crore.
“Nazara has seen significant success in its ‘acquire and scale’ strategy over the last few years,” said Mittersain, who is also the joint managing director and chief executive of Nazara Technologies. “Our unique decentralised model allows these businesses to operate autonomously by strong management and provides us with significant bandwidth to scale the platform we have created.”
The company, which houses multiple brands under the parent entity with a ‘Friends of Nazara’ strategy, has stakes in brands such as Nodwin Gaming, Sportskeeda, Kiddopia Animal Jam, World Cricket Championship and CarromClash among others.
In an interaction last year, Mittersain said the company was looking to increase the ticket sizes of these transactions, acquiring stakes in companies clocking above Rs 100 crore in revenues from Rs 30-100 crore range previously.
“We are particularly focused on investing in and acquiring gaming studios globally with a specific focus on India’s 500 million gamers as well as the large North American market,” Mittersain said.
