gamigo AG (“gamigo”, bond ISIN: DE000A1TNJY0) and Aeria Games Europe GmbH, two of the leading European games publishers, have agreed a strategic merger of their companies and are together taking the next step toward creating a leading platform on the consolidation of the European games market. The merger is a logical move for both firms, which have successfully acquired, integrated, and consolidated several games companies and assets in recent years. The agreement is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.
Combining the two complementary online and mobile games portfolios will make it possible to tap substantial synergy potential. The joint company has a wide reach, marketing its games in over 40 countries, with a focus on Europe and North America. The new publisher has offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Münster, Seoul, Chicago, and San Francisco. The company boasts numerous strong and popular client and browser games (including Echo of Soul, Fiesta Online, Aura Kingdom, and Desert Operations) as well as titles in the fast-growing mobile segment (including Goal One and Dawn of Gods) and already has various new games in the pipeline (including Diddl and Bless) for the coming years.
The two publishers also complement each other well on the B2B side with portals like browsergames.de and deutschland-spielt.de. The focus in this activity will remain on offering multichannel advertising and platform services.
As part of the transaction, ProSiebenSat.1 is contributing its 100% holding in Aeria Games to gamigo AG and will become a minority shareholder in the merged publisher with a 33 percent stake. ProSiebenSat.1 acquired Aeria Games Europe in February 2014, since when it has pushed ahead with the mobile side of the publisher’s business in particular.
gamigo CEO Remco Westermann comments: “We aim to jointly hone one of the leading European platforms for online and mobile games for international operations. Our synergies are strong and we are planning to generate further profitable revenue growth both organically and by making further acquisitions with a view to extending reach, portfolio, technology, sales channels and partner networks. Together we hold a leading market position.”
Oliver Strutynski, Managing Director of Aeria Games, says: “The merger of gamigo and Aeria Games will give rise to a new, strong player in the international games business with a fantastic line-up.”
About the gamigo group
The gamigo group is one of the leading gaming companies in Europe and North America with more than 65 million registered user accounts and over 100 staff members in Hamburg, Berlin, Münster, Darmstadt (Germany) and Chicago (USA). The company functions as a publisher for free-to-play mobile and online games and also offers modular Software-as-a-service solutions for business customers within the scope of the gamigo platform strategy. The gamigo platform helps publishers and developers from all over the world publish and promote their products efficiently and cost-effectively. The company’s core portfolio is comprised of successful games like Fiesta Online, Last Chaos, Dragon’s Prophet, Empire Universe 3, Desert Operations, Kings and Legends, Wickie Online and the cross-platform game The Rats. As early as in the year 2000, gamigo published the first MMOG that was completely localized into German. gamigo strives to grow its business organically as well as via acquisitions and has performed 10+ M&As since 2014, including companies specializing in games and technology as well as individual game assets.
Press Contact
edicto GmbH
Axel Mühlhaus / Dr. Sönke Knop
Tel.: +49 -(0)69-905505-52
Mail: gamigo@edicto.de
www.gamigo.ag
About Aeria Games
Aeria Games is a leading publisher of multiplayer online games in the free-to-play market with a rapidly growing community of more than 70 million registered players and a broad spectrum of development partners. A fully-owned subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, Aeria Games is a Berlin-based company with satellite offices in San Francisco and Seoul. The company develops and publishes high-quality PC, mobile, and browser-based games worldwide in nine languages. Aeria’s diverse portfolio includes such titles as the popular anime MMO Aura Kingdom, the action shooter A.V.A., the football manager Goal One, and many other games from a wide range of genres. For more information, visit www.aeriagames.com
Press Contact
ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE
Medienallee 7
D-85774 Unterföhring
Matthias Bohlig
Senior Manager Communications
Tel.: +49 [0] 89/9507-2344
Mail: Matthias.bohlig@prosiebensat1.com