Playstudios Inc., a maker of free-to-play casino-oriented video games, acquired Brainium, a studio known for titles such as Spider Solitaire and Mahjong.
(Bloomberg) — Playstudios Inc., a maker of free-to-play casino-oriented video games, acquired Brainium, a studio known for titles such as Spider Solitaire and Mahjong.
The price is $70 million in cash and an additional sum based on Brainium’s performance through the end of the year, according to a statement from Las Vegas-based Playstudios.
The acquired company will keep its name and leadership team.
The deal will immediately contribute to profitability, Playstudios said, more double the number of active daily players and expand the company’s loyalty program.
Founded in 2008, Brainium has 10 unique titles, attracting 2 million daily users that will gain access to rewards such as dining and entertainment discounts.
“We’ve found what we think is a strategically significant and complementary company and we’ve acquired it for all cash,” Playstudios Chief Executive Officer Andrew Pascal said in an interview.
Playstudios went public last year via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.
The shares traded as high as $13.20 in February 2021, around when the deal was announced, and as low as $3.24. The stock closed Wednesday at $3.70.
The casino-game operator is backed by MGM Resorts International and offers titles including Tetris and myVEGAS Slots.
The company had $287.4 million in revenue last year, while daily active players stood at around 1.5 million at midyear, up 20% from 2021.
Playstudios gets its revenue primarily from in-app purchases by players, who earn loyalty points that can be traded for real-world benefits.
Its partners include Wolfgang Puck restaurants and companies like Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. and Resorts World.
Brainium, which employs just 34 people, relies on higher-margin advertising sales and will soon add Playstudios’ features to its games.
“It dovetails perfectly with the partners we currently have,” Pascal said.
“We have 100 partners, all within different verticals of leisure and entertainment.”
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