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Casual publisher Zattikka floats on UK AIM, raising $20 million

Acquires three studios in the process

Casual publisher Zattikka floats on UK AIM, raising $20 million
London-based Zattikka (AIM: ZATT) has become the first casual gaming outfit in the UK to go public, floating itself on a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, the Alternative Investment Market.

Share prices in the company – which is dealing under the ticker code ZATT - have started at £1 ($1.58), giving a market cap of £22 million.

Three into one

"We are delighted to list on AIM to provide the capital base and incentivise the entrepreneurs joining our group,” said CEO Mark Opzoomer.

"We begin with a strong group of companies with operations in key gaming centres in the USA, China and Europe, a mix of revenues across subscriptions, virtual goods and work for hire with an exceptional team of talent.

"We have a great opportunity before us to accelerate the growth of this initial group across multi-platforms to create a world class games entertainment group."

Opzoomer, who along with president Tim Chaney founded the company after both left executive posts at Virgin Interactive, said Zattikka has raised £12.6 million ($20 million) in funding, reduced to £9.5 million ($15 million) post-placement and acquisitions costs.

The company also completed  the acquisitions of three firms using its newly issued shares: Swedish football management game outfit Hattrick, US/Chinese art and design specialist Concept Art House and US casual gaming studio Sneaky Games.

An eye on acquisitions

These won't be the final purchases made by the firm, however.

Zattikka stated its focus will be to "acquire, develop and launch freemium games across social networks and mobile platforms" moving forward, with casual players the key.

Said targets will be profitable, but currently under-exploited IP, or businesses with a track record of monetising in the mobile social field, the company said, with future acquisitions likely to spread across multiple regions.

"The vision for the company is to become a large scale, diverse games publisher with products operating across growth digital platforms, and with a geographic emphasis in Europe, the US and China," Zattikka said in a statement.

"The company proposes to achieve this by developing Zattikka through strategic acquisitions and accelerating on-going organic growth."

The floatation on AIM comes as the firm launched its corporate site Zattikka.com, complete with a full rundown of its operations across the casual gaming field.

[source: Zattikka]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.