Technology

Posted on August 15, 2019 by staff

UK games studio set for £90m acquisition

Technology

Video games firm Catalis Group is set to be acquired in a big-money deal.

Catalis, which covers every aspect of game testing, development and publishing, has accepted an offer from Project Sword Bidco, a newly formed company indirectly controlled by funds managed by NorthEdge Capital.

The deal, which values Catalis at £89.8m, is subject to approval from Catalis shareholders.

Catalis Group comprises three companies: Kuju Entertainment, its development arm, Testronic Laboratories, which provides testing and support services, and publisher Curve Digital.

Kuju, which develops VR products, has worked on franchises including Guitar Hero and Pokemon.

“The offer from Bidco represents a 179.6 per cent premium to the market capitalisation implied by the share price at the time of the delisting [from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange] just over a year ago,” said Catalis chairman Peter Biewald.

“The independent directors believe that Bidco will be an excellent partner to Catalis and its management and believe the acquisition is in the best interests of all our stakeholders.

“We as the independent directors unanimously intend to recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions relating to the acquisition.”

Catalis employs 1,000 people in four countries and has bases in London, Brighton, Poland, Thailand, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

It says it provides quality assurance services for major studios in the film and TV business.