By Sherin Sunny
(Reuters) – Australian poker machine giant Aristocrat Leisure has agreed to sell its Plarium mobile game developer for up to $820 million to Stockholm-listed Modern Times, as it shifts focus towards real-money gaming markets.
The deal price consists of a fixed consideration of $620 million and a contingent consideration of up to $200 million, subject to the achievement of certain financial targets over calendar years 2025 to 2028.
Shares in Aristocrat fell 1.1%, after touching a record high of A$66.10 in early trade, while the broader benchmark fell slightly by 0.3%.
Plarium Global, the game development studio known for creating RAID: Shadow Legends, an acclaimed squad-based role-playing game, fits well with Modern Times “and the deal results in one of the strongest mid-core mobile gaming portfolios in the industry,” Modern Times said in a separate statement.
The newly merged entity is projected to achieve more than SEK 12 billion ($1.11 billion) in annual revenue, with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) exceeding SEK 3 billion, Modern Times said.
The sale of Plarium by Aristocrat’s Pixel United arm follows a strategic evaluation of the group’s casual and mid-core gaming portfolio announced in May.
Pixel United’s first half bookings for ‘RPG, Strategy and Action’ fell to A$283.7 million ($186.50 million) from A$296.4 million, and ‘Casual’ game bookings declined to A$97.2 million from A$104.6 million. Aristocrat is due to report its 2024 annual earnings on Wednesday.
Aristocrat said its strategic review of Big Fish Games, another unit of Pixel United, is ongoing and flagged a goodwill impairment charge of $110 million for the business.
Citi analysts said while Big Fish remains to be divested, the Plarium sale addresses a key bearish concern due to below-consensus fiscal 2025 Digital forecasts, which they said they would review following Aristocrat’s results.
($1 = 1.5211 Australian dollars, 10.8407 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sonali Paul)
