Media and Games Invest advances its market position and offering in programmatic mobile location-based display and video advertising with the acquisition of Verve’s business assets.
Publication of inside information pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014
Thursday, January 23, 2020 — Media and Games Invest plc ("MGI", ISIN: MT000000580101; Symbol: M8G) announces today that its subsidiary gamigo AG agreed on acquiring substantially all assets of Verve Wireless Inc (“Verve”) via its US-based subsidiary. Verve is a leading North American mobile data platform for location-based programmatic video and display marketing. This transaction includes Verve’s technology, intellectual property and the team with domain expertise in branded programmatic advertising and its location-based analytics and data management platform.
Verve was founded in 2005 with offices in i.a. New York and San Diego. The acquisition is expected to generate additional net revenues in the lower double-digit million range in the current fiscal year. Depending on the speed of finalizing, restructuring and integrating the transaction within the coming weeks, management expects an additional EBITDA* in the low single-digit million range for the year 2020. The purchase price depends on various factors and is expected to be in the low double-digit million range.
The acquisition expands the group's product portfolio, customer base as well as sales organization and further strengthens the group's position in the North American market with strong synergies towards the other media companies as well as gaming companies of the MGI group.
* Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as defined on page III in the consolidated financial statements 2018 of Media and Games Invest plc
--End of ad-hoc--
Explanatory section
MGI believes in the combination of M&A and organic growth in the synergetic gaming and media sectors having acquired over 30 companies and assets in the last six years. By integrating and focusing on synergies, MGI is building leading platforms in the gaming as well as in the media and advertising segments while leveraging the strong synergies between these segments.
The acquisition of Verve’s business assets strengthens MGI’s position in media and advertising and will boost the marketing of the game companies. While the MGI group already offers online performance marketing (Adspree), an influencer marketing agency (Mediakraft) as well as a SaaS platform (ReachHero), a supply side performance platform (Pubnative), additionally to a global app performance agency (Applift), the group is now expanding by utilizing Verve’s programmatic mobile brand marketplace, as well as its data management and location-based platforms. Substantial revenue, as well as cost synergies, are leveraged within the media and advertising unit in addition to the gaming companies.
MGI welcomes Verve’s customers and partners and plans to support further rolling out of the business globally also using synergies within the group.
Verve’s customers will be benefiting from a significant increase in inventory reach and a wider range of advertising services. On the other hand, the other MGI companies will profit from Verve’s true performance solution that leverages the power of third-party mobile data in the context of location, including strong and unique products such as Click-to-Map, which enables retailers to measure store visits and pedestrian traffic.
“With the acquisition of Verve, we are further expanding the position of the MGI Group in the media and advertising sector. Together, the group has a strong global offering with over 600 million monthly active direct users, strong proprietary technology, over 17 registered patents and a global sales team with offices and employees in well over 20 countries worldwide as well as a strong customer base, including many blue-chip companies. This powerhouse in the media sector will also further strengthen the gaming sector, particularly in the area of user acquisition for our portfolio games as well as for our new game launches.” Said Remco Westermann, CEO of MGI.
About Media and Games Invest plc:
Media and Games Invest plc, (“MGI”), is a fast and profitably growing company focusing on a "buy, integrate, build & improve" strategy through organic growth and acquisitions in the media and games markets. Technology is actively used to create efficiency improvements and competitive advantages within the group. Synergy and integration potentials are important criteria for the expansion of the group. The most important investments include gamigo AG, a fast-growing gaming and media company, ReachHero GmbH, a leading influencer SaaS platform, Applift GmbH, a leading media company specializing in mobile advertising, and Pubnative, an SSP platform for mobile advertising. Media and Games Invest is listed a.o. on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on XETRA.
Disclaimer
This press release contains possible forward-looking statements that are based on the current assumptions and forecasts of the company management of Media and Games plc or companies associated with it. Various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as well as other factors, could mean that the actual results, financial circumstances, the development or performance of Media and Games invest plc and the companies associated with it may deviate significantly from the estimations presented here. Neither Media and Games Invest plc nor the companies associated with it are obligated to update this sort of forward-looking statement or adjust them to future results or developments.
Press contact:
edicto GmbH
Axel Mühlhaus / Dr. Sönke Knop
Telephone: +49 69 9055 05 51
Email: [email protected]
Issuer
Media and Games Invest plc
Sören Barz, Head of Investor Relations
St. Christopher Street 168
Valletta VLT 1467
Malta
Email: [email protected]
