Acquisition

RNS Number : 8634Q

Keywords Studios PLC

11 June 2018

 

11 June 2018

Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")

     Acquisition of Blindlight

Keywords goes to Hollywood

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired Blindlight LLC ("Blindlight") for a total consideration of up to $10m, from the founder, Lev Chapelsky (the "Seller").

Founded in 2001 and based in Hollywood, California, Blindlight enjoys a leading position in the provision of Hollywood production services for the video games industry. The company works on behalf of game publishers and developers in procuring specialised talent and managing the entire production processes for the parts of games that benefit from Hollywood production resources. Blindlight's service disciplines include voiceover production, celebrity acquisition and rights management, game writing, music, sound design and motion capture.

Blindlight works with top game producers around the world (including Bethesda, NCSoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Ubisoft) making the creative expertise of Hollywood readily available for the video games industry. The addition of Blindlight to the Group will increase the value of the services provided by Keywords and contribute to making those services more accessible to a wider customer base.

Blindlight achieved EBITDA of an average of $1m per annum over the three-year period to 31 December 2017. Under the terms of the acquisition Keywords is paying an initial $3.64m in cash and will issue 64,521 new ordinary shares in Keywords to the Seller on the first anniversary of the acquisition which will then be subject to orderly market provisions for a further 12 months.  Deferred consideration of up to $4.8m will be payable to the Seller in cash depending on the performance of the business in the 12-month periods to the first and second anniversaries of the acquisition.

Andrew Day, CEO of Keywords Studios commented:

"Keywords and Blindlight have got to know each other well over the past three years and we see good opportunities to leverage both businesses to offer a wider range of world leading services to our clients. We are delighted to welcome Lev and the rest of the team to the Keywords family.

"Following our recent acquisition of music services companies, Cord Worldwide and Laced, we see excellent opportunities for Blindlight to bring these services to Los Angeles, as well as providing access to further opportunities for our downstream production services of translation and localised voice over."

For further information, please contact:

Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com) Andrew Day, Chief Executive Officer David Broderick, Chief Financial Officer Giacomo Duranti, Chief Operating Officer	[phone]
Numis (Financial Adviser) Stuart Skinner / Kevin Cruickshank (Nominated Adviser) James Black / Tom Ballard (Corporate Broker)	020 7260 1000
MHP Communications (Financial PR) Katie Hunt / Ollie Hoare	020 3128 8100 [e-mail]

About Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com)

Keywords Studios is an international technical services provider to the global video games industry. Established in 1998, and now with over 40 facilities in 20 countries strategically located in Asia, the Americas and Europe, it provides integrated art creation, software engineering, testing, localisation, audio and customer care services across more than 50 languages and 16 games platforms to a blue-chip client base of approximately 650 clients across the globe.  It has a strong market position, providing services to 23 of the top 25 most prominent games companies, including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Konami, Riot Games, Sony, Square Enix, Supercell, TakeTwo, and Ubisoft. Recent titles worked on include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Call of Duty: WWII, Mortal Combat X, Assassin's Creed Origins, Battlefield 1, League of Legends, Fortnite, Clash Royale, and Mobile Strike. Keywords Studios is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L).

About Blindlight (www.blindlight.com)

Founded in 2001, Blindlight provides any service that video game producers need from Hollywood: voiceover production, celebrity acquisition, performance capture, story development, scriptwriting, or music production. Located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, it's the leading SAG-AFTRA signatory service provider for the games industry and has maintained a key position in its market for 18 years. Notable game series the company has contributed to include The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Guild Wars, Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider, Destiny, and Halo.

 

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