April 22nd, 2011 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »
Gree, a leading social mobile gaming platform in Japan, has announced the acquisition of OpenFeint. Gree has over 25 million users and a market cap of $3 billion.
OpenFeint is ‘slightly’ bigger with 75 million gamers spread over Android and iOS and so, gives a major boost to Gree. Gree acquired OpenFeint for $104 million by purchasing all outstanding stock and provided the network with aditional working capital.
The two networks will not merge like what happened with ngmoco’s acquisition. The two will however exploit synergies and create tailored products for specific markets. The existing team including CEO Jason Citron will stay in place. Through the additional working capital, the OpenFeint team should even double in size before the year is over.
About the acquisition, Gree will acquire OpenFeint through a triangular merger. A new subsidiary was established in the US under Gree International for the 100% acquisition of OpenFeint. Gree contributed to Gree International funds for the acquisition and subscribed for additional shares in Gree International, and the new subsidiary merged into OpenFeint. Gree International will pay cash consideration to OpenFeint shareholders and warrant/option holders in connection with the merger. The execution of the merger agreement and completion of the merger occurred on April 21st, 2011.
“At GREE, we are socializing the next evolution of games and, as the best-in-class US-based mobile social network, OpenFeint is the ideal partner for us to offer the best mobile social games to the largest global audience,” said Yoshikazu Tanaka, founder and CEO of GREE. “This acquisition further emphasizes GREE’s commitment to providing the first and best global gaming ecosystem, with both the developer and consumer in mind,” says Naoki Aoyagi, CEO of GREE International, the subsidiary that recently opened an office in San Francisco.
“We are excited that GREE shares our belief in the OpenFeint network and are ecstatic to partner with a renowned global leader to build a multi-billion dollar business,” says Jason Citron, CEO and founder of OpenFeint. “Together, we will deliver the strongest global ecosystem of gaming networks to our combined 100 million users.”
