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UTV Software Communciations has acquired the promoter and employee shareholding of 30.02 per cent in Indiagames -- mobile and online gaming developer and publisher -- for Rs 94.56 crore (Rs 945.6 million).
Walt Disney already owns majority stake in Indiagames, as it acquired media conglomerate UTV in a Rs 2,000-crore (Rs 20 billion) deal in July this year.
This values Indiagames at Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion), six times its FY10 revenue of Rs 54 crore (Rs 540 million), making the deal one of the largest in the Indian gaming space.
Disney will own 86.02 per cent stake in the company from its earlier 56 per cent. An announcement from UTV on the Bombay Stock Exchange said it was also in talks to acquire the 14 per cent stake from other investors.
Vishal Gondal, the 34-year-old founder and CEO of Indiagames, will now become part of the management of Walt Disney India.
While he could not be reached over the phone, he said on a leading social networking site: "A very emotional, proud and happy moment for me and team Indiagames. Big thanks to my teammates, family, friends, gamers, partners and investors. Looking forward to an exciting time with Disney and UTV."
Other than promoter Gondal, almost 30-40 employees have employee stock option, who have been working with the company for more than a decade.
Other than Indiagames, there are a few handful game developers and publishers in the mobile and online space. These include Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Entertainment's Zapak, and Games2Win and Zynga.
The Indian gaming -- including PC and online, mobile and console -- industry is valued at Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) and is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 31 per cent to Rs 3,830 crore (Rs 38.30 billion) by 2015.
According to Ficci-KPMG report, mobile gaming alone is a Rs 280-crore (Rs 2.80 billion) market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 45 per cent to reach Rs 1,740 crore (Rs 17.40 billion) by 2015.
