Take-Two Interactive has acquired Serbian mobile games developer Nordeus for $378 million.

The upfront price of $225 million will be paid in cash, with $90 million issued through new shares of Take-Two common stock. If certain metrics are met, then the full $378 million will be paid for the studio.

As part of the purchase, Nordeus CEO and co-founder Branko Miluntinović will continue to run the company but will now report directly to Take-Two senior vice president Nir Efrat. Nordeus COO Tomislav Mihajlović, CCO Milan Jovović and CTO Ivan Stojisavljević will all remain in their respective positions too.

Nordeus was founded in March 2010 before going on to launch Top Eleven Football Manager, the studio's flagship game. Top Eleven has accumulated approximately 220 million installs to date.

Mobile business growth

“Our investment in Nordeus strengthens further Take-Two's mobile game business, is highly complementary to Social Point and Playdots, and broadens our sports portfolio with our first-ever soccer offerings," said Take-Two executive vice president Michael Worosz.

Miluntinović added that: "From the start of our conversations with Strauss and the team, we found that we were connected with common values, culture, and a shared vision.

"From a start-up back in 2010, to what we are today, Nordeus has been built on giving the world more champions through great gaming experiences such as Top Eleven, while also rooting ourselves in the community in Serbia through our continuous efforts in giving back.

"We are excited to take both our products and our work locally, to the next level with them as we continue our aim of putting Serbia on the global map of gaming.”

We previously spoke with Milutinović regarding the 10-year anniversary of Top Eleven, as well as how the developer partnered with Premier League manager José Mourinho.

Meanwhile, Take-Two Interactive last year revealed that it has 21 games "planned specifically" for the mobile over the next five fiscal years.