Nazara Technologies Limited, a diversified gaming and sports media platform, on Monday announced that its board has approved preferential allotment of equity shared to raise up to Rs 100 crore, subject to approval of the shareholders of the company. “The Company is proposing to issue 14,00,560 equity shares of face value of Rs 4 each at a price of Rs 714 per equity share aggregating to Rs 999,999,840 (Issue) proportionately to Kamath Associates and NKSquared,” the company said in a regulatory filing.
As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements), Regulations, 2018, these equity shares will be locked in for a period of 6 months from the date of issue.
The company said that the fresh funds will be utilized to invest in funding requirements and growth objectives of the firm, which will include making strategic acquisitions and investments in various companies/ body corporates/ entities, meeting growth and funding requirements based on the business opportunities across the subsidiaries/ associates/ joint venture of the Company, as applicable, through investment in subsidiaries/ associates/ joint venture of the Company.
“Nikhil Kamath symbolizes success in India’s tech arena, and this fund raise holds immense value for us at Nazara as we continue to build a diversified gaming platform in India. Beyond the funds raised, his investment stands as a resounding vote of confidence in Nazara,” said Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies.
“Gaming in India is poised for strong growth in the years to come and Nazara has built a well-diversified, profitable gaming platform well suited to take advantage of opportunities in the years ahead. We look forward to supporting Nitish and his team in achieving their growth aspirations for Nazara,” said Nikhil Kamath, Partner, Kamath Associates & NKSquared.
Nazara’s offerings across the interactive gaming segment include gamified early learning ecosystems Kiddopia and Animal Jam; cricket simulation franchise World Cricket Championship (WCC); Classic Rummy in the Indian Real Money Gaming segment; and a wide portfolio of casual games distributed through telco partnerships in many emerging markets. In addition, Nazara controls Datawrkz, a digital ad tech company which supports its other portfolio companies as well as external clients for demand-side user acquisition and supply-side ad monetization services.
Reacting on the same, Jinesh Joshi, Research Analyst, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd, said, “While preferential allotment will lead to an equity dilution of 2.1 per cent, Nazara operates in a hyper growth gaming industry where scalability is of prime importance which may lead to dilution at frequent intervals at least in the initial stages. We believe the funds might be deployed to expand presence in either Freemium or Gamified Early Learning segment as Real Money Gaming is facing regulatory hurdles post levy of 28 per cent GST on full bet value whereas ESports business is well funded post recent fundraise of Rs2 billion.”