Strategic £250,000 acquisition for video games group
Video games developer Sumo Group says it is acquiring PixelAnt Games, which is based in Wroclaw, Poland for an initial cash consideration of £250,000.
PixelAnt, which was founded in July 2020, is well known to the Sumo Digital management with its team of 13 developers currently working entirely on Sumo Digital projects.
Following the takeover, PixelAnt will sit alongside the Sheffield-based firm’s other nine studios and continue to operate under the leadership of current studio directors Pawel Rohleder and Adam Lason.
With the support of the Sumo brand, the strategy is to expand the headcount rapidly at PixelAnt, accessing the growing pool of high-quality developers in the Polish market and to focus on winning third party contracts, alongside the continuing work on Sumo Digital projects.
The PixelAnt team will also work on Own-IP opportunities.
This is the third acquisition in the last 12 months for Sumo, which also has bases in Nottingham and Leamington Spa, which also saw the firm acquire Oregon-based Pipeworks Studios. It brings Sumo Digital’s studio count to ten and the group’s total to 13, across five countries.
Carl Cavers, chief executive officer of Sumo Group, said: “Increasing headcount is a key pillar of our growth strategy and accessing new pools of high-quality talent is vital to the successful execution of that strategy.
“I’m really pleased that Adam and Pawel can see the benefits of joining the Sumo family.
“Poland has been on our radar for some time and the acquisition of PixelAnt, who we know so well, is a great way for us to gain entry to this exciting market.
“On behalf of everyone at Sumo, I welcome the PixelAnt team to the Group and look forward to building a substantial presence in this thriving new territory.”
The deal follows a year of growth for the acquisitive firm and the video game industry as a whole, which has been described as one of the “winners” of lockdown. Sumo like a number of its peers saw its value grow throughout 2020 and its current market cap is £595.96m, with a closing share value of 352p on Friday. In comparison, the firm’s value 12 months ago was 194p a share. The group also reported in September that its revenues have increased and that pre-tax profits doubled.
