Nottingham videogame firm sold to private equity house
The Nottingham videogame firm which created Sonic & Sega All Star Racing and Little Big Planet 3 has been sold.
Sumo Digital, which is based in Castle Marina, has been sold by NorthEdge Capital to fellow private equity firm Perwyn.
Sumo, which is headquartered in Shefield, is one of the UK’s leading developers of video games and interactive entertainment products. Working in partnership with top tier publishers including Sony and Microsoft, the business produces AAA franchises including Little Big Planet 3, Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox 360) and Disney Infinity 3.0, which have sold millions of copies worldwide. Sumo is currently working on Crackdown 3 with Microsoft, a groundbreaking title designed to redefine open world gaming, and was recently announced as Koch Media’s partner on Dead Island 2.
In November 2014, NorthEdge supported the management team, led by CEO Carl Cavers, in acquiring the business from US-based Foundation9.
Following the MBO, Sumo has increased headcount from 240 to 350 across its UK and India offices and in March 2016 launched a new Nottingham studio. Since the investment from NorthEdge, revenues have increased by 60 per cent to £23m.
Carl Cavers
Carl Cavers, CEO at Sumo Digital, said: “NorthEdge has been an excellent partner for Sumo, supporting the business with both capital and expertise to help us achieve our growth ambitions. Their proximity and local decision making has been a great advantage given the pace at which we have evolved. The launch of our new Nottingham studio has enabled us to attract some world class talent and the investment into our India operation has broadened the expertise of the local team to include software engineering as well as art content.
“Our people are at the core of everything we do at Sumo and with major projects such as Crackdown 3 and Dead Island 2 under way, it is an exciting time for us. We operate in a high growth, global market and the pace of technological development and the changing ways in which users consume video games present a great opportunity for the business. We are delighted to have Perwyn working alongside us as we embark on the next stage of our journey. They have demonstrated a deep understanding of Sumo, our culture and the market in which we operate and we look forward to partnering with them.”
The investment was led by NorthEdge Partner Andy Ball and investment director Phil Frame.
KPMG (Christian Mayo, Graham Pearce, Stephen Leah and Mick Morris) provided corporate finance advice to NorthEdge. Legal advice was provided by Addleshaw Goddard (Yunus Seedat, Neville Moore and Luke Aylett) and Sheridans (Sara Wax and Alex Chapman).
PwC provided financial and commercial due diligence (Will Oxley, Nick George and Andrew Baldwin). Perwyn was advised by PwC (tax) and Ashfords (legal). Senior debt was provided by Yorkshire Bank’s specialist and acquisition finance team (Mike Selina, Charlie Barker and Mark Dobson).
