LOS ANGELES | February 27th, 2020 - Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong based company that leverages gamification, blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products, announced it had reached an agreement to acquire nWay, a developer, publisher and tech platform for competitive multiplayer games across mobile, PC and consoles. nWay has a history of developing award-winning games including Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid and ChronoBlade. In line with Animoca Brands’ philosophy to develop compelling consumer applications focused on fun, engagement, technology and innovation, this acquisition is a new milestone in the company’s expansion strategy.
Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “The acquisition of nWay is a historic day for Animoca Brands. Not only are we acquiring a company with experienced management, strong revenues and successful branded games, but we are also immensely excited about the nWayPlay platform, which - among other advantages - will allow a new generation of developers to create multiplayer games without the many years of experience normally required for such tasks.”
Taehoon Kim, Co-Founder and CEO of nWay, commented: “Animoca Brands is the perfect strategic partner for nWay, as Animoca Brands brings a deep history of innovation, talent and IPs which can help further the main goal of nWay – to create amazing games that are enjoyed by fans around the world. We look forward to this new era in the history of nWay and continuing to support our titles and platforms, including Power Rangers: LegacyWars, Battle for the Grid and our industry-leading nWayPlay platform.”
Taehoon Kim added: “Drake Star’s extensive relationships in the mobile and PC / console gaming space and cross-border deal experience were imperative for this acquisition.”
Drake Star Partners’ team: Michael Metzger, Mohit Pareek, Nick Meyers
Legal advisors to seller: Fenwick & West LLP, Elevon Law, Inc.
About nWay
nWay is a San Francisco based developer, publisher and tech platform for competitive multiplayer games across mobile, PC and consoles. The company has a strong track record of developing AAA quality games on mobile and on console, namely the recently launched Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars and ChronoBlade. nWay is comprised of leading developers and senior executives from Sony, Electronic Arts, WB Games, LucasArts, Kabam, Nexon and NCSoft. Collectively, the team has contributed to over a dozen hit mobile, console and online games, including Marvel Contest of Champions, Injustice, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Dominations, FIFA Online, Battlefield Online, Lineage II and Warhammer Online.
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands leverages gamification, blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products including games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products based on popular intellectual properties such as Formula 1®, Garfield, Snoopy, Thomas & Friends™, Ever After High and Doraemon. Animoca Brands’ portfolio of blockchain investments and partnerships includes Lucid Sight, Dapper Labs (creators of CryptoKitties), WAX, Harmony and Decentraland. The Company is based in Hong Kong, Canada, Finland and Argentina.
Inquiries
For further inquiries, please contact:
Michael Metzger
Partner, Drake Star Partners
michael.metzger@drakestar.com
About Drake Star
Drake Star is an award-winning global tech investment bank that has completed over 400 transactions since 2003. Drake Star team of over 125 senior professionals across offices in New York, London, Paris, Munich, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, Geneva, Dubai*, and Singapore* focuses on mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance services worldwide in Consumer & Retail Technology, Digital Media, FinTech, Mobility & Sustainability, Software/SaaS, Digital Services, and Industrial Tech sectors.
Drake Star Partners is the marketing name for the global investment bank Drake Star Partners Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates. In the USA, all securities are transacted through Drake Star Securities LLC. In the USA, Drake Star Securities LLC is regulated by FINRA and is a member of SIPC. Drake Star UK Limited (FRN 942020) is an appointed representative of Kession Capital Ltd (FRN582160) which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. © 2016 Drake Star Partners Limited.
www.drakestar.com
*Partner Offices
