17th Jan 2025 09:54
(Alliance News) - Winking Studios Ltd on Friday announced a proposed conditional acquisition aimed at boosting sales in Asia.
The Singapore-based video-game services firm backed by Taiwan's Acer Inc said it will buy Shanghai Mineloader Digital Technology Co Ltd, "one of Asia's leading game art outsourcing and development studios".
The consideration totals around CNY146 million, or GBP16.3 million, including an upfront payment of around CNY131.4 million. The remaining balance would be paid five years after completion.
Winking Studios expects the takeover to be completed before the end of the second quarter of 2025.
"The proposed acquisition is expected to deliver increased scale across Asia, new Western clients, and increased resources to deliver on the group's global ambitions," Winking Studios said.
Shanghai Mineloader delivered earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of around SGD3.6 million, or GBP2.2 million, in 2023.
Winking Studios Founder & Chief Executive Officer Johnny Jan said: "This marks our largest acquisition to date and represents a pivotal step that augments our position in the global video games industry, unlocking new horizons for growth and innovation. Game art is essential in a video game's development, serving as the visual foundation and creative ingenuity that engages players and shapes their gaming experience."
In December, Winking Studios said it entered a further phase of a joint artificial intelligence development project.
The company's subsidiaries, Winking Entertainment Corp, Shanghai Winking Entertainment Ltd, and Nanjing Winking Entertainment Ltd, entered into a supplementary agreement to the second phase of a joint AI development project for the co-development of a three-dimensional animation AI generation software with Acer.
The agreement ran from November 1 to December 31.
Winking Studios shares were 0.2% lower at 19.36 pence each on Friday morning in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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