Playtech Cyprus Ltd. (LSE:PTEC) has acquired Scottish company Yoyo Games for up to $21.7 million in cash: $16.4 million immediately and up to $5.3 million according to milestones - Playtech's usual model for acquisitions. Playtech has bought 15 companies since 2006.
Playtech, which provides a software-based platform for online gambling websites, is controlled by Teddy Sagi, and has no problem paying for the deal. As of September 2014, Playtech had €402.4 million ($460 million) in cash, and has since raised €297 million ($340 million) in convertible bonds.
Yoyo Games has developed fairly successful technology, called GameMaker: Studio, that enables casual game developers to develop a game using a single code, and run it on a variety of platforms, ranging from Apple Computers' iOS to Google's Playstation, Xbox, Windows 8, and others. According to Playtech, the GameMaker: Studio family of solutions has already had over five million downloads, and has over 750,000 registered users, i.e. game developers.
The acquisition of Yoyo Games is part of Playtech's strategy for entering the casual games niche, meaning games whose target public is temporary players - a growing market. These games are simple, easy to understand, and require no long-term commitment. Playtech did not wait for Yoyo Games to enter this niche. In early 2014, it assembled a team of over 120 casual games developers into a unit it calls Plamee.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 16, 2015
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