Stillfront Group have revealed that they have acquired mobile games developer and publisher Candywriter for approximately $74.4m, of which $7.5m is payable in 708,463 newly issued shares in Stillfront, and the remaining approx. $36.9m is payable in cash.
Additionally, an earn-out consideration may be payable by Stillfront in an aggregate maximum total amount of $120.6m on a cash and debt free basis, out of which one half will paid in cash and the other in newly issued shares in Stillfront. This is dependent on Candywriter earnings for the financial years 2020, 2021 and 2022. However, the total purchase price cannot exceed $195m
“The acquisition of Candywriter is an excellent next step in further broadening our diversified portfolio, both in terms of genre, audience and addressable market. Candywriter has developed a number of interesting apps and casual games since 2006 and with BitLife, they have created a unique game in the market, with 42m downloads to date. We look forward to merging our capabilities in different areas. The conservative total implied EV/EBIT multiple, should be seen in context of expected high growth. The synergy and growth potential are high”, says Jörgen Larsson, CEO, Stillfront.
“Teaming up with Stillfront is an exciting next step in the evolution of our company. The group’s high degree of proficiency in areas like localization, business intelligence, and development at scale is a perfect complement for our growing needs. We look forward to working with the group to blaze new trails in the interactive narrative genre and beyond”, says Kevin O’Neil and Nadir Khan, Joint Founders and Owners of Candywriter, who remain on the management team.
