IPO-bound Nazara Technology ropes in ESL as investor, raises Rs 26 Cr

If you are a gamer, play it like Nazara. Powerful like Chhota Bhim and consistent like cricket Virat Kohli(the two flagship games of Nazara), the IPO-bound company is growing day by day either by acquisition or dilution of stakes for a handsome capital.

The latest development has come from German esports firm Turtle Entertainment GmBH, which operates the world’s largest e-sports company ESL (Electronic Sports League). The Mumbai-based gaming firm has diluted its 1.75 per cent stake to ESL in lieu of Rs 26 crore.

Turtle Entertainment owns over a dozen e-sports tournaments around the world, including ESL National Championship, ESL Pro League, ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters.

Founded in 2000, ESL runs amateur to professional leagues, ranging from online tournaments through major global mega stadium events in venues around the worldly, distributing its content and original programming across digital and linear channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, Sony Vue, Disney XP, and Hulu.

Additionally, ESL has signed a license agreement with NODWIN Gaming, which was recently acquired by Nazara Technologies.

Besides NODWIN, Nazara has made strategic investments in gaming companies like Next Wave Multimedia, Bengaluru-based daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform HalaPlay and developer of 3D cricket simulation games Moong Labs.

While talking about fundraising, the gaming firm had raised $51 million alone from IIFL in December last year. In the same month, Veteran investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invested $27 million in Nazara Technologies. He has also acquired a minority stake in the company.

Nazara has so far raised over $80 million from various investors — Westbridge Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital, IIFL, and Jhunjhunwala.

Founded in 2000, Nazara Technologies operations comprise of our subscription business, freemium business and Esports business. It uses an artificial intelligence-based system, where the end player can experience playing like the Indian cricketer. The mobile gaming publisher is operational in more than 74 countries including India, Dubai, Singapore, and Mauritius.

A brainchild of Nitish Mittersain, Nazara runs popular subscription-based games like Chhota Bheem, Star Cricket, and Virat Cricket, among several others.

Nazara Technologies targets a profit of Rs 100 crore in FY 2019. To launch Rs 1,000-crore IPO by the end of financial year, it has roped in ICICI Securities and Edelweiss Financial Services, which could be the first public listing company in the gaming space.

The development was reported by Mint.