Nazara Tech acquires IP rights of Ultimate Teen Patti from Games24x7

Mumbai-based esports and gaming company Nazara Technologies has announced that its subsidiary, Nextwave Multimedia, has finalised the acquisition of the casual freemium card game, Ultimate Teen Patti (UTP).

According to a company filing on Tuesday, July 30, the acquisition included all intellectual property (IP) rights, software, and associated trademarks for the game. The final payment of Rs 1 crore was made to complete the acquisition.

Financial Aspects

The acquisition process began in April when Nazara announced that Nextwave would buy the IP rights from U Games, a branch of skill-gaming company Games24x7.

The total deal was valued at Rs 10 crore, with an initial payment of Rs 9 crore made in April and the final Rs 1 crore paid upon the transfer of the assets. 

UTP, launched in 2015, is a free-to-play social card game that generated a gross turnover of Rs 7 crore in the financial year 2022-23.

What does Nextwave Multimedia do?

Chennai-based Nextwave Multimedia is known for developing popular casual and multiplayer mobile games, including the World Cricket Championship, which boasts over 100 million downloads across platforms. The acquisition of UTP allows Nextwave to expand its offerings in the casual gaming market. 

Earlier this year, Nazara completed its acquisition of Nextwave by buying an additional 28.12% stake for Rs 21.6 crore, bringing its total ownership to 100%.

The move followed the initial acquisition of a majority stake in January 2018 and a subsequent increase to 71.88% in May of the previous year.

Recent acquisitions

Nazara Technologies has been on an acquisition spree in recent months. In July, the company acquired an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps, making its total ownership 100%, in a deal valued at Rs 300 crore.

Nazara subsidiary NODWIN Gaming’s Singapore subsidiary acquired an additional 43.49% stake in Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH for Rs 212.9 crore. 

Additionally, Nazara purchased gaming company Ninja Global FZCO for $3.57 million in June 2024.

Financial performance

Despite its active acquisition strategy, Nazara Technologies has faced financial challenges. The company reported a significant decline in net profit for the quarter ended March 2024, with figures dropping to Rs 18 lakh from Rs 9.4 crore in the same quarter the previous year. 

The drop is primarily due to a Rs 16.87 crore loss from discontinued operations, which includes write-offs in several legacy businesses like the real-money gaming business Halaplay.

Revenue from operations also decreased, falling by 8% year-on-year to Rs 266.2 crore from Rs 289.3 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.