Hong Kong game developer 6Waves bought by European strategic
6Waves, a Hong Kong-based mobile game developer that previously received funding from Insight Partners, has been acquired by Swedish gaming studio Stillfront Group for USD 201m, comprising cash and shares.
Shareholders will receive 92% of the upfront purchase price in cash and a further 2.91m in Stillfront shares, valued at SEK 102.9m (USD 10.9m) as of February 18. The founders and other key employees of 6Waves will also receive up to USD 100m in earnouts – 75% in cash and 25% in newly issued shares – over the next four years, assuming the business remains profitable.
The price values 6Waves at 6.8x adjusted EBTIDA for the 12 months ended September 2021. During that period, the company generated SEK 755m in revenue and adjusted EBIT of SEK 246m.
Founded in 2008, 6Waves received USD 17.5m in funding from Insight in 2010. At the time, the company had a portfolio of 20 social games – including World Poker, Happy Harvest, Animal Paradise, and My Fishbowl – published on Facebook with 50m monthly active users (MAUs).
Stillfront, which has a portfolio of 64 free-to-play games and 63.8m MAUs, noted 6Waves has a strong presence in Japan. The company has experience adapting high-quality strategy games for Japanese audiences, such as Shishinogotoku, Sangokuhaousenki, and Tenchinogotoku.
There are currently four key titles in medieval Asia settings, developed externally and published in Japan under revenue share models. In addition, 6Waves has a pipeline of in-house developed and second party-published games addressing a global audience. The company has 135 employees in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo.
"Stillfront has a long and proven history of developing and publishing evergreen strategy games, and 6waves's titles fit perfectly into our portfolio. Expanding our presence in East Asia and specifically Japan, has been a strategic priority for Stillfront and we are happy that we have found such a talented team to help us on that journey," said Jörgen Larsson, CEO of Stillfront, in a statement.
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