Nazara raising $108 Mn led by SBI MF; market cap reaches $1 Bn

Gaming firm Nazara is raising Rs 900 crore (approximately $108 million) in a funding round led by SBI Mutual Fund, with participation from Juno Moneta Finsol, Think India Opportunities Fund, Discovery Global, and others.

Nazara's board has approved a resolution to issue 94,31,294 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 954.27 each, raising Rs 900 crore ($108 million), according to its disclosure filed with the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

SBI Mutual Fund led the round with Rs 220 crore while Juno Moneta Finsol

and Think India Opportunities Fund contributed Rs 150 crore each. Caratlane co-founders Siddharth and Mithun Sacheti also participated with Rs 155 crore. The remaining funds came from Discovery Global, Cohesion MK, Chartered Finance, Ratnabali Investment, Meenakshi Mercantiles, and Aamara Capital.

The preferential allotment is subject to shareholder approval, with the meeting scheduled for October 12, according to the filing.

In a separate strategic move, Nazara has acquired an additional 19.35% stake in Absolute Sports, the parent company of Sportskeeda, for Rs 145.47 crore. Of this amount, Rs 72.73 crore will be paid in cash, while the rest will be through a share swap of Nazara's shares. 

After this transaction, Nazara will hold a 91.03% stake in Absolute Sports. In the past few months, Absolute Sports acquired assets of SoapCentral.com and DeltiasGaming.

The company reached its 52-week high today at Rs 1,098 and ended the day trading at Rs 1,095. According to Entrackr's estimates, Nazara's overall market capitalization stands at Rs 8,381 crore as of September 18.