nDreams continues its progress with acquisition
20/12/2022 07:00
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RNS Number : 2114K Mercia Asset Management PLC 20 December 2022
RNS Reach 20 December 2022
Mercia Asset Management PLC
("Mercia", the "Group" or the "Company")
nDreams continues its progress with first acquisition
Mercia Asset Management PLC (AIM: MERC), the proactive, regionally focused
specialist asset manager with c.£1.4billion of assets under management, is
pleased to announce that nDreams Limited ("nDreams") has acquired
Brighton-based Near Light Limited ("Near Light").
Founded in 2016, Near Light is a long-term partner of nDreams and a virtual
reality ("VR") and augmented reality ("AR") game development studio. Near
Light developed the nDreams-published Perfect and Shooty Fruity VR titles, in
addition to recently pioneering an AR experience for one of the world's
leading toy brands.
nDreams is currently Mercia's largest direct investment by fair value, and
continues to see strong growth, with revenue for its current financial year on
track to grow by c.70 per cent. Near Light is nDreams' first acquisition as it
seeks to accelerate its ability to scale the delivery of top-class games, to
meet growing demand.
Following the £20.0million investment from Aonic AB in March 2022, nDreams
has significantly grown its workforce and capabilities, expanding its
headcount from c.100 at the beginning of 2021, to over 180 currently. With the
acquisition of Near Light, nDreams will have c.200 team members, 150 of whom
are developers, working across four studios on a number of projects, including
the recently announced Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, with Sony
Pictures Virtual Reality and Meta, that launches in 2023. Near Light is
currently developing an unannounced VR title to be published by nDreams.
Julian Viggars, CIO of Mercia Asset Management and nDreams' Board Director,
commented: "2022 has been a significant year for nDreams as it continues to
firmly establish itself as one of the world's leading VR studios. The
acquisition of Near Light is another positive development as it looks to scale
its world class development capability, to fulfil a rapidly growing order
book. We remain hugely excited by the potential of the VR market, particularly
as nDreams already has partnerships with the key VR headset providers."
-Ends-
For further information, please contact:
Mercia Asset Management PLC +44 (0)330 223 1430
Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer
www.mercia.co.uk (http://www.mercia.co.uk/)
Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker) +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Simon Bridges, Emma Gabriel
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker) +44 (0)20 7496 3000
Harry Gooden, James Moat
FTI Consulting +44 (0)20 3727 1051
Tom Blackwell, Immy Ransom
mercia@fticonsulting.com
About Mercia Asset Management PLC
Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional
SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its
four asset classes of venture, private equity, debt and proprietary capital:
the Group's 'Complete Connected Capital'. The Group initially nurtures
businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia
can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying
direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.
The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, university
partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to
high-quality deal flow.
Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the EPIC "MERC".
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