Game developer Nexters sees Q1 revenue jump ahead of SPAC-enabled Nasdaq listing

GDEV

01/07/2021 15:01

MOSCOW, July 1 (Reuters) - Video game developer Nexters
Global, which expects to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange this
year via an agreement with a Russian special purpose acquisition
company (SPAC), on Thursday estimated its first-quarter revenue
rose by 48%.
    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.
    Nexters in February entered into an agreement with the
Kismet Acquisition One Corp  KSMTU.O  SPAC to list publicly.
    The transaction gave Nexters an enterprise value of $1.9
billion and should close in 2021.  
    Nexters estimated its revenue grew by 48% in the first
quarter, with bookings up 15% to $113 million, it said in a
statement.
    This performance, it said, had allowed it to upgrade its
2021 bookings forecast, despite cautious expectations of
post-COVID trends in the wider industry. 
    The company now sees 2021 bookings up 38% to around $610
million. It did not provide its previous forecast.  
    "Our games won't stop being fun when the pandemic ends,"
said CEO Andrey Fadeev. 
    Kismet, created by Ivan Tavrin, the former CEO of Russian
telecoms firm Megafon, staged an initial public offering on the
Nasdaq in August 2020, raising $250 million to invest in
telecoms, technology, consumer goods and services. 
    Kismet in February said it would invest an additional $150
million in Nexters, one of Europe's top five independent game
developers. 
    Nexters shareholders include its founders Fadeev and Boris
Gertsovsky, and the founders of game developer Playrix, Igor and
Dmitry Bukhman, who acquired a 43% stake in 2018. 

 (Reporting by Alexander Marrow
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((alexander.marrow@thomsonreuters.com;))