News

ESL owner acquires 35% stake in German developer InnoGames valuing studio at €260 million

MTG coulc increase stake to majority 51%

Date Type Companies involved Size
October 13th, 2016 acquisition InnoGames
Modern Times Group (MTG)
MTGx Digital Ventures
$100m
ESL owner acquires 35% stake in German developer InnoGames valuing studio at €260 million

ESL owner Modern Times Group has acquired a 35% stake in German mobile and browser games developer InnoGames.

MTG will purchase 21% of the studio in Q4 2016 and the remaining 14% in Q1 2017.

MTG also has the option to acquire a further 16% of the studio to bring its stake up to a majority of 51%.

The deal values InnoGames at €260 million. This suggests that MTG have shelled out €91 million so far to buy a stake in the company. This could rise to €130 million in future.

From browser to mobile

InnoGames’ portfolio of games includes Elvenar, Tribal Wars I and II, Grepolis and Forge of Empires. To date the company has garnered over more than 150 million registered players across its titles.

The developer is expected to generate revenues of €125 million for 2016. Its revenues are increasingly coming from its mobile operations, with more than half of all new user registrations on mobile platforms.

The studio plans to release several new mobile games during the next 12 months.

“We have scored major success with our live games and are now focusing on the development of several new mobile first titles, while maintaining our high quality operation of all live games,” said InnoGames CEO Hendrik Klindworth.

“MTG’s international presence, understanding of storytelling entertainment, and commitment to IP development and building engaged user communities will bring our games to even larger audiences around the world. MTG’s culture of empowering entrepreneurial spirit is exactly what we were looking for as we move into the next chapter of our story. The team could not be more excited about further boosting our future potential and performance.”


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.