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Electronic Arts to Acquire Glu Mobile, Creating a New Global Leader in the Largest and Fastest Growing Gaming Segment
Electronic Arts Inc., a global leader in interactive entertainment, and GluMobile Inc., a leading global developer and publisher of mobile games including Design Home, Covet Fashion, and MLB Tap Sports Baseball, have entered into a definitive agreement under which Electronic Arts will acquire Glu Mobile. Under the terms of the agreement, EA will acquire Glu for $2.1 billion in enterprise value. Glu stockholders will receive $12.50 in cash for each share of Glu stock, representing a 36% premium to Glu’s closing share price on February 5, 2021. Upon closing, the acquisition will be immediately accretive to Electronic Arts’ total net bookings, and is expected to grow underlying profitability beginning in its first year.
The acquisition will immediately add significant scale to Electronic Arts’ mobile games business. The combination of Electronic Arts and Glu creates a leading mobile product portfolio that includes more than 15 top live services across fast-growing genres with a combined $1.32 billion in bookings over the last twelve months. Bringing together the best-in-class mobile development teams at Glu and Electronic Arts’ mobile business, with a collective portfolio of powerful IP in sports, lifestyle, RPG, casual and other genres, and leveraging Electronic Arts’ marketing and distribution strength to generate global reach, the combined organization will build on EA’s network of 430 million players, including more than 100 million monthly active players in mobile, and expand to new audiences and demographics all over the world.
“Our acquisition of Glu combines amazing teams and deeply-engaging products to create a mobile games leader with proven expertise across many fast-growing genres,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts. “Mobile continues to grow as the biggest gaming platform in the world, and with the addition of Glu’s games and talent, we’re doubling the size of our mobile business. With a deep IP portfolio and an expanding global audience, we’ll deliver more exciting experiences for our players and drive further growth for Electronic Arts.”
“This transaction is the culmination of the tremendous work of the Glu team to deliver world-class interactive experiences for our players, while driving business momentum that has led to strong financial and operational results. It represents a terrific outcome for all of our stockholders and other key constituents,” said Nick Earl, CEO of Glu. “As part of Electronic Arts, we will continue capitalizing on the opportunities ahead in the expanding mobile gaming industry.”
The strategic rationale for the acquisition includes:
Creating a Leading Mobile Portfolio Across Key Genres. The complementary nature of Electronic Arts and Glu’s successful products will create a portfolio that spans many of the biggest and most popular genres of mobile games, including sports, RPG, lifestyle, casual, and mid-core games. The combined organization will have a demographically diverse audience, with significant opportunities for franchise and market expansion.
Expanding Successful, Scalable Live Services. Both Electronic Arts and Glu have proven success creating mobile live service games that deeply engage large communities over many years and deliver strong recurring revenue. The combined expertise of the two organizations unlocks potential for further success. Glu’s franchises like Design Home, Covet Fashion, and MLB Tap Sports Baseballwill benefit from Electronic Arts’ global licensing and distribution capabilities to bring them to new markets and more players. Glu’s expertise in building and monetizing sports and casual mobile games, combined with Electronic Arts’ industry-leading IP in sports and beyond, will accelerate the creation of exciting new experiences for broad audiences.
Experienced Creative Leadership & Enhanced Team Capabilities. Glu brings a talented team including more than 500 mobile game developers (and nearly 800 total employees), adding significant scale to Electronic Arts’ mobile-focused organization. Glu’s creative leaders are established and well-known to Electronic Arts, with similar focus on creating highly successful mobile games with longevity. The combination of proven mobile leadership, deeply talented teams, genre expertise, long-running franchises and IP, and technology across the two organizations will be a catalyst to delivering new experiences and further growth.
Accelerating Growth. The combination of Electronic Arts and Glu will be a mobile growth engine. With strong, recurring revenue across a leading portfolio of live services, strength in key mobile genres, a deep roster of owned and licensed IP, access to a large-scale and growing player network, and ability to reach into new regions and markets, the acquisition will be immediately accretive to EA’s total net bookings and is expected to grow underlying profitability beginning in its first year.
An investor presentation outlining the key aspects of the planned acquisition is available on EA’s investor relations website, at ir.ea.com.
Details on the Proposed Transaction
The board of directors of each of Electronic Arts and Glu Mobile have approved the transaction and the Glu board recommends that Glu stockholders approve the transaction and adopt the merger agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Glu stockholders will receive $12.50 in cash for each share of Glu stock, representing an equity value of $2.4 billion, and a total enterprise value of $2.1 billion including Glu’s net cash of $364 million. The transaction is anticipated to close in the quarter ending June 30, 2021, subject to approval by the Glu stockholders, the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Source: Electronic Arts Inc.
Latest News
Brazilian Ministry of Finance and Sportradar Join Forces to Strengthen Integrity of Sports
The Brazilian Ministry of Finance, through the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, and Sportradar Group AG signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) to collaborate activities focused on safeguarding the integrity of the newly regulated sports betting and online gaming region.
The ACT aims to support the technical staff of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, given their responsibility at the national level to coordinate the authorization, inspection and sanctioning process of operators that provide online games and sports betting.
Sportradar’s Integrity Services will offer its expertise to the Secretariat, including reporting any suspicious incidents it may identify through its monitoring of the market, as well as providing strategic counsel to address these situations. Additionally, Sportradar will support the ongoing education and training of Secretariat staff on the threat of match-fixing, to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the issue.
Ministry of Finance spokesperson responsible for the partnership, Régis Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Betting, said: “The partnership with Sportradar will be an important tool to combat a major threat to the fixed-odds betting market, which is the risk of manipulation of sports results.”
Felippe Marchetti, Sportradar’s Manager for Integrity Partnerships in Brazil, said: “The signing of the ACT is a proud occasion for Sportradar and we appreciate the trust shown by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance in the expertise of Sportradar’s Integrity Services division. This ACT reflects a mutual commitment to establish a sustainable, regulated sports betting industry in Brazil that is built upon a foundation of integrity.”
Internet Vikings, a licensed in-state hosting provider for iGaming and online sports betting, is happy to announce the renewal of its long-term partnership with PlayStar, an online casino operator in the United States. Internet Vikings has been a trusted partner of PlayStar since 2021, providing the hosting infrastructure for their operations.
After a successful three-year collaboration, PlayStar has extended its agreement with Internet Vikings for hosting services in New Jersey. This renewed partnership serves as proof of the quality and reliability of Internet Vikings’ solutions.
Rickard Vikström, Founder and CEO of Internet Vikings shares, “We have always believed in providing not just hosting, but a solution that aligns with our partners’ vision and long-term growth plans. We look forward to continuing this collaboration.”
PlayStar has established itself in New Jersey’s regulated market by focusing on player engagement, personalization, and responsible gambling. Recently nominated for the EGR Rising Star Award, PlayStar has created a safe, and controlled gaming environment ensuring its customers enjoy a smooth player experience while leveraging flexible hosting solutions from Internet Vikings.
“We need partners who are equally committed to our vision,” said Peter Ekmark, CEO of PlayStar. “Internet Vikings has helped us achieve our goals, providing the kind of adaptability and customer-centric support that allow us to grow without limits.”
Award-winning iGaming supplier Delasport has just positioned itself as the most progressive supplier to date by meeting the new Brazilian regulation requirements for Sports Betting and Online Casino. The global technology developer has taken all required measures to comply in terms of certifications, Data vault integration, payment providers, KYC, AML, and much more.
Delasport’s team of over 400 experts worldwide are advancing to deliver its renowned products and services to the Brazilian market. They have partnered with GLI (Gaming Laboratories International) – the leading certification lab approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance.
So far, Delasport is fully certified against GLI-33 and GLI-19 – the standards that have inspired regulators in Latin America and likely in Brazil. Additionally, the team is in the process of submitting the platform for certification against Brazilian technical standards. Delasport is also advancing rapidly through data quality testing of its integration with the SIGAP Datavault system.
Key Advantages
Operators that plan on entering the newly regulated Brazilian market will have numerous advantages if they partner with Delasport. They will be able to provide their players with personalization features like My Sportsbook, My Event Builder, My Combo, and My Casino that skyrocket revenues and retention.
Furthermore, Delasport’s KYC and AML provider is a market leader that guarantees the highest level of compliance for all operators that choose to go on this route.
Also, Delasport has already partnered with numerous PIX payment system operators and provides a real-time AI-powered Responsible Gambling system which can easily adapt to local regulations.
Another key advantage is the strong relationship with third-party casino suppliers that will soon be able to provide their exciting portfolios to this thrilling jurisdiction.
Last, but not least, operators will feel Delasport’s support from the get-go all the way to establishing themselves as a market leader. Delasport is knowledgeable of the cultural and regional differences within Brazil and can address all localization needs before they arise.
“Delasport stands on a solid foundation of experience, supplying Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 operators in highly regulated markets globally”, the company’s CCO Filippo Ferri comments. ‘This makes Delasport fully equipped to assist operators navigating complex platforms or adapting to modern jurisdictional requirements, such as Brazil’s.’
The supplier’s VP of Business Development Rosaire Galea Cavallaro adds: ‘It’s a great privilege to enter such a vast and exciting market with the confidence that we’ve gained at Delasport throughout the years. We’re looking forward to seeing our product in action in a new territory, achieving and maintaining solid margins for our partners, keeping the record of having double digit margins in sports betting and helping them scale with ease in both verticals to generate maximum revenue for their brands.’
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