Game developer Nexters secures funds for SPAC-enabled Nasdaq listing

GDEV

19/07/2021 13:01

MOSCOW, July 19 (Reuters) - Video game developer Nexters
Global said on Monday it had secured funds needed to proceed
with a Nasdaq listing by the end of September via an agreement
with a Russian special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). 
    Nexters entered into an agreement in early 2021 with Russian
SPAC Kismet Acquisition One Corp  KSMT.O  to list, a transaction
that gave Nexters an enterprise value of $1.9 billion.
    Investment worth $50 million from Kismet, alongside $50
million from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala
Investment Co and VPE Capital, takes Nexters to the $100 million
minimum requirement, Nexters said in a statement. 
    "The secured investments provide transaction security for
closing the deal," it said, adding the listing was expected to
be completed by the end of the third quarter, subject to
regulatory and other approvals.
    Faris Al Mazrui, head of Mubadala's Russia and CIS
investment programme, said Nexters fitted into the fund's
expanding portfolio of tech companies.
    The developer behind popular games Hero Wars and Throne Rush
was founded in Russia in 2010 but is headquartered in Cyprus.
Like other gaming firms, it has seen sales rise during the
pandemic, this month reporting an estimated first-quarter
revenue jump of 48%.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2OD19L
    On Monday, Nexters said bookings in the second quarter were
up 40% year on year to $154 million, thanks in large part to an
increase of monthly paying players to approximately 400,000. 

 (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Edmund Blair)
 ((alexander.marrow@thomsonreuters.com;))