Zeus Capital leads IPO for US indie games developer
Zeus Capital has led the transaction for tinyBuild’s listing to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange for a market capitalisation of £340m.
TinyBuild, a US-based indie video games publisher and developer, strategically secures access to IP and partners with developers to establish a stable platform on which to build multi-game and multimedia franchises.
Its portfolio of games includes 40 titles, and its games pipeline includes 23 titles currently scheduled for release during 2021 and 2022.
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company has key operations worldwide, with employees, contractors or partners in multiple locations across five continents..
The directors believe that the placing and admission will help to fund the company’s organic growth and inorganic growth strategies and improve the company’s public profile.
A team at Zeus Capital comprising Nick Cowles, Richard Darlington, Daniel Harris, Rishi Majithia, James Edis and Matt Hogg (Corporate Finance); Benjamin Robertson (Equity Capital Markets); and Bob Liao (Equity Research) acted as nominated advisor and joint broker to tinyBuild on the transaction.
The listing is the latest in a series of transactions for Zeus Capital’s dedicated video games team.
In the last three years, it has advised on multiple deals including Sumo Group’s £145m IPO, subsequent fundraising and acquisition of Pipeworks for $99.5m, as well as the sale of Catalis to NorthEdge Capital for €100m and the £47m flotation of Guild Esports.
Alex Nichiporchik, CEO of tinyBuild, Inc, said: “Since establishing tinyBuild eight years ago, we have gone on to create one of the most exciting players in our industry, with a quality portfolio of games enjoyed worldwide. Our focus on partnering with developers worldwide to ensure the creation of long-lasting IP which can be developed into multi-game franchises has been integral to our success to date.
“We were delighted by the level of investor appetite we have experienced during the IPO process and we welcome our new shareholders to tinyBuild. We believe that our AIM listing provides the ideal platform for our growth, whilst helping to increase tinyBuild’s profile even further.”
Nick Cowles, Deputy Head of Corporate Finance at Zeus Capital, said: “It’s great to work with companies like tinyBuild that make a positive impact on their community. We look forward to continuing to support tinyBuild and its high-quality investor base in the next phase of the company’s journey.”
Richard Darlington, Corporate Finance Director at Zeus Capital, said: “This listing further demonstrates our deep expertise in the sector, having advised on five deals valued over $750m in the last eighteen months alone.
“Despite the issues arising from the pandemic, participants in the sector have continued to innovate to work virtually across the globe whilst further benefitting from an accelerated permanent transition to digital distribution.
“With the video gaming industry expected to reach a valuation of more than $200bn by 2023, we are seeing exciting new business models develop with huge growth opportunities across this global market.”
