RCS - RiverFort Global Opp - Update on investment in Pluto Digital plc

Riverfort Global OpportunitiesAnnouncement

25/10/2022 12:45

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RNS Number : 0579E  RiverFort Global Opportunities PLC  25 October 2022

25 October 2022

RiverFort Global Opportunities plc

("RGO" or the "Company")

 

Update on investment in Pluto Digital plc

 

RiverFort Global Opportunities plc , is pleased to provide an update on
developments at Pluto Digital plc ("Pluto"), one of the Company's investee
companies, following a recent webinar held by the company.

 

Following its successful joint venture earlier this year, Pluto has merged
with Maze Theory Limited ("Maze Theory"), a London-based digital entertainment
studio, to form Emergent Entertainment plc ("Emergent"), a next-generation
entertainment company focused on bringing audiences and storytellers together
by harnessing emerging technologies.

 

Pluto is a Web3 technology company with a focus on the metaverse, blockchain
gaming and NFTs sectors.  Pluto had been working with Maze Theory with a view
to developing high-quality games that incorporate token economics. Previously,
the company had acquired 40% of Maze Theory and set up a joint venture called
Emergent Games Limited.

 

Pluto has now agreed to acquire the remaining 60% of Maze Theory that it did
not already own and merge the two companies to form Emergent. The
consideration will be the issue of 151 million new shares in Pluto, with the
reference price of the transaction being 6 pence per Pluto share.

 

Former Executive Vice President of Sony Interactive Entertainment/PlayStation,
Simon Rutter, has joined Emergent as Chairman, alongside CEO Ian Hambleton,
the former CEO of Maze Theory. Simon Rutter spent 25 years at PlayStation,
with the last 10 years in senior international leadership roles. Ian Hambleton
is a successful entrepreneur of 20 years, having founded and grown creative
businesses across tech, digital, gaming and green tech with Found Studio, Maze
Theory and Ecologi.

 

Post transaction, Emergent will benefit from the experience and expertise of
over 60 developers and executives across the two merged entities. The business
will comprise three divisions:

 

-      Emergent XR, which will focus on developing VR games such as Peaky
Blinders, an action/adventure game that is currently in development.

 

-      Emergent Web3, which is developing the game Resurgence, a Web3
game which takes players on a journey from a present-day disaster to a
post-apocalyptic future. This will be free to play and will include token
economics.

 

-      Emergent Networks, which includes certain existing digital assets,
owned by the Company, including NFTs.

 

Emergent expects to balance the traditional and the new; storytelling craft
with technical innovation; and established, reliable business models with more
contemporary forms of monetisation.

 

Philip Haydn-Slater, Non-Executive Chairman of RGO, commented:

 

"We are pleased to see the ongoing developments at Pluto, which is progressing
towards becoming a next-generation entertainment company, with a specific
focus on Web3. This is a sector where significant growth is expected,
particularly in the form of VR video games."

 

The Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this
announcement.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

RiverFort Global Opportunities
plc:
+44 (0) 20 3368 8978

Philip Haydn-Slater, Non-Executive Chairman

Nicholas Lee, Investment Director

 

Nominated Adviser:

Beaumont
Cornish
+44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Roland Cornish/Felicity Geidt

 

Joint
Broker:
+44 (0) 20 7601 6100

Shard Partners LLP

Damon Heath/Erik Woolgar

 

Joint
Broker:
+44 (0) 20 7562 3351

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Lucy Williams

 

 

 

 

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