Nazara Technologies to buy remaining 28% stake in Nextwave Multimedia for Rs 21.6 crore

Mumbai-based gaming and entertainment company Nazara Technologies is acquiring the remaining 28.12% stake in its mobile gaming subsidiary, Nextwave Multimedia, in two tranches for Rs 21.63 crore from founder shareholders PR Rajendran, R Kalpana, and PR Jayashree.

Transaction involves two tranches

The first tranche involves purchasing 1,000 shares, representing a 3% stake in Nextwave Multimedia, for Rs 2.3 crore in cash.

The second tranche involves buying 8,375 shares, representing a 25.12% stake, for Rs 19.33 crore in cash or through the issuance of Nazara Technologies stock within six months after the first tranche closes.

Merging the entity into the parent company

Nazara Technologies first acquired a majority stake in Nextwave Multimedia in 2018 and increased its ownership to 71.88% in May 2023.

Post-transaction, Nazara said it will consider merging the entity and/or its IP into the parent company, Nazara Technologies Ltd.

Notably, Nazara would consider applying a similar strategy to other existing games and new acquisitions. This approach involves merging those core gaming IPs into the parent listed entity to "extract synergies and capture cash flows directly at the parent level."

What does Nextwave Multimedia do?

Founded in 1995, Nextwave Multimedia is the developer behind the World Cricket Championship (WCC) franchise. The company primarily develops casual and multiplayer mobile games within the sports genre.

Last year, Nazara appointed industry veteran Christopher Franklin as CEO, succeeding founder Rajendran, who then assumed the role of board chairman. The Mumbai-based company noted that, over the past year, the former CEO and founder facilitated a smooth transition, sharing knowledge and expertise associated with the WCC franchise.

On May 25, the company reported that it had revamped Nextwave Multimedia’s ad monetization, live operations, brand sales, and user acquisition strategies. These improvements are expected to enhance retention and revenue generation for the core WCC franchise in fiscal year 2025.

Nextwave Multimedia growth

The company claims that the WCC titles have amassed over 100 million downloads across mobile platforms in the last seven years, attracting approximately 8.1 million monthly active users, predominantly from India, as of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024. Of these, about 1.1 million were daily active users during the quarter.

Nazara announced plans to leverage the studio’s expertise to expand the WCC franchise further across platforms and to introduce new games, with the first launch anticipated in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Last month, Nextwave Multimedia acquired all intellectual property rights for "UTP - Ultimate Teen Patti," a casual freemium card game from U Games, a subsidiary of the skill gaming unicorn Games24x7.