The Close of the Stock Exchange Today Signals the Start of a New Era in the History of the German Gaming Developer, Goodgame Studios
HAMBURG, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2017 / The close of the stock exchange today signals the start of a new era in the history of the German gaming developer Goodgame Studios."We are very proud to announce the merger of Goodgame Studios with Stillfront Group, which is listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier stock exchange," says co-founder and CSO of Goodgame Studios, Dr. Christian Wawrzinek. "Once the transaction is approved by the Stillfront Group's shareholder meeting in January 2018, Goodgame Studios can be publicly traded indirectly for the first time."
In this merger, Stillfront Group AB, located in Stockholm, Sweden, will acquire Goodgame Studios, which is much larger than Stillfront in terms of turnover and profit. As part of the transaction, the current shareholders of Goodgame Studios will receive about 40 percent of the shares and voting rights of the combined company. Consequently, the founders and managing directors of Goodgame Studios, Dr. Kai and Dr. Christian Wawrzinek, will become the major shareholders of the Stillfront Group and both will remain managing directors of Goodgame Studios. In addition, Dr. Christian Wawrzinek is proposed to be elected as a new member of the Stillfront Board of Directors. For the purposes of the transaction, Goodgame Studios has been valued at 270 million Euros.
"We managed to turn things around in 2017 and are now very profitable. In the first nine months of 2017, we achieved an EBIT of 22 million Euros," says Dr. Kai Wawrzinek. "Together with the other studios of the Stillfront Group, we want to pursue our shared vision of creating a gaming company of global importance. Being listed on the stock market provides the flexibility that we require for our plans. Our future looks bright."
Following recent changes at Goodgame Studios, it is paramount to the founders to provide stability. They said, "No personnel changes are planned at Goodgame Studios. The subsidiaries of the Stillfront Group are run autonomously and Goodgame Studios will also remain as it is today." Additionally, they see strong synergies on the know-how level. "The games developed by the Stillfront Group's studios fit perfectly with our extensive marketing know-how and our global distribution network consisting of many thousands of partner websites."
Last month, Goodgame Studios broke through the all-time turnover (User Spend) ceiling of one billion (USD). The company has been given a further boost by successfully launching its new hit game, Big Farm: Mobile Harvest, achieving 2 million registrations in 4 weeks.
CONTACT
Simon Strauss
Tel: +49 (0)40 - 219 880 - 0
E-mail: presse@goodgamestudios.com
ABOUT GOODGAME STUDIOS
Goodgame Studios is a leading developer and provider of gaming software, specializing in the free-to-play segment. Its focus is on mobile and browser games. The company provides its games in 26 languages and has over 300 million registered users worldwide. Empire: Four Kingdoms - the world's highest grossing app produced by a German company since 2013 - is part of Goodgame Studios' portfolio. The games developer was founded in Hamburg in 2009 and is owner-managed. Apart from the head office in Germany, the company has a subsidiary in Tokyo. Goodgame Studios exclusively distributes games it has produced itself, directly and through a global network of partners.
ABOUT STILLFRONT
Stillfront is a group of independent creators, publishers, and distributors of digital games - with a vision to become the leading group of indie game creators and publishers. Stillfront operates through eight near-autonomous subsidiaries: Bytro Labs in Germany, Coldwood Interactive in Sweden, Power Challenge in the UK and Sweden, Dorado Online Games in Malta, Simutronics in the United States, Babil Games in UAE and Jordan, eRepublik in Ireland and Romania, and OFM Studios in Germany. Stillfront's games are distributed globally. The main markets are France, UK, Germany, the United States and MENA. For further information, please visit http://www.stillfront.com.
SOURCE: Goodgame Studios
