1 February 2021
Sumo Group plc
("Sumo Group" or the "Group")
STRATEGIC ACQUISITION OF PIXELANT GAMES
Presence in the thriving talent pool of Poland
Sumo Group, the award-winning provider of creative and development services to the video games and entertainment industries, announces the strategic acquisition of PixelAnt Games sp. z o. o. ("PixelAnt"), based in Wroclaw, creating an immediate presence for the Group and an established base for growth in Poland's booming video games development industry.
The video games industry is growing rapidly in Poland. PixelAnt, which was founded in July 2020, is well known to the Sumo Digital management with its team of 13 developers currently working entirely on Sumo Digital projects.
Following the acquisition, PixelAnt will sit alongside Sumo Digital's other nine studios and continue to operate under the strong leadership of current studio directors Pawel Rohleder and Adam Lason. With the support of the Sumo brand, the strategy is to expand the studio's headcount rapidly, accessing the growing pool of high-quality developers in the Polish market and focus on winning third party contracts, while continuing to work on Sumo Digital projects. The PixelAnt team will also work on Own-IP opportunities.
The Group has paid an initial cash consideration of £250,000 for PixelAnt. A further amount may be payable, in Sumo Group shares, depending on the EBITDA achieved in the two years to 31 March 2023.
The acquisition of PixelAnt takes Sumo Digital's studio count to ten and the Group's total to 13, across five countries.
Carl Cavers, Chief Executive Officer of Sumo Group, said:
"Increasing headcount is a key pillar of our growth strategy and accessing new pools of high-quality talent is vital to the successful execution of that strategy. I'm really pleased that Adam and Pawel can see the benefits of joining the Sumo family. Poland has been on our radar for some time and the acquisition of PixelAnt, who we know so well, is a great way for us to gain entry to this exciting market. On behalf of everyone at Sumo, I welcome the PixelAnt team to the Group and look forward to building a substantial presence in this thriving new territory."
Enquiries:
Sumo Group plc | Via Belvedere Communications |
Carl Cavers, Chief Executive Officer | |
David Wilton, Chief Financial Officer | |
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Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) | |
Nick Cowles / Richard Darlington / Andrew Jones | Tel: +44 (0) 161 831 1512 |
Ben Robertson / John Goold | Tel: +44 (0) 203 829 5000 |
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Investec (Joint Broker) | |
David Flin / Bruce Garrow | Tel: +44 (0) 207 597 5970 |
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Belvedere Communications Limited |
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Cat Valentine | Tel: +44 (0) 7715 769 078 |
Keeley Clarke | Tel: +44 (0) 7967 816 525 |
Llew Angus | Tel: +44 (0) 7407 023 147 |
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About Sumo Group plc
Sumo Group's businesses provide acclaimed development and design services to the video games and entertainment industries from studios in the UK, India, Canada and the US.
Sumo Digital, as the Group's primary business, is one of the UK's largest independent developers of AAA-rated video games, having studios in Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Leamington Spa, Warrington and Pune, India. The business has acquired three studios since IPO, which operate under their own names, BAFTA award-winning The Chinese Room in Brighton, Red Kite Games in Leeds and Lab42 in Leamington Spa. Sumo Digital provides turnkey and co-development solutions to a global blue-chip client base.
Atomhawk is a multi-award-winning visual design company, with studios in Newcastle and in Vancouver (Canada), servicing the games, film and visual effects industries.
Pipeworks is an innovative, well-established, and respected US video games developer based in Eugene, Oregon. It provides full development, co-development, and live operations to premier video game publishers and other partners.
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