Playtika Paying Up to $1.25B for SuperPlay

Posted on: September 18, 2024, 05:27h. 

Last updated on: September 19, 2024, 09:52h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Mobile games developer Playtika (NASDAQ: PLTK) said Wednesday it’s paying $700 million to acquire rival SuperPlay, with an additional contingent consideration that could bring the purchase to $1.25 billion.

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Playtika is highlighted at the Nasdaq market site. The company is buying rival SuperPlay for up to $1.25 billion. (Image: Wall Street Journal)

The boards of both Israel-based companies have approved the deal. Playtika noted the final acquisition price could be $1.25 billion if closely held SuperPlay achieves “certain financial targets for 2025, 2026, and 2027.” Those include adjusted earnings before, interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and sales objectives. The acquisition boosts Playtika’s exposure to the board and coin looter segments of the mobile gaming space.

Founded in 2019 by former Playtika employees Gilad Almog and Eyal Netzer, along with industry veteran Elad Drory, SuperPlay has emerged as expert game makers with two successful titles — Dice Dreams, a fast-growing Coin Looter game, and Domino Dreams, a popular Board game, and two more games currently in development,” according to a statement issued by Playtika.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Why the Deal Matters for Playtika

Shares of Playtika are off 22% over the past 12 months and in the more than three years since the company’s initial public offering (IPO), investors have fretted about monthly user growth and a dependence on a small number of titles such as Bingo Blitz, Caesars Slots, Slotomania, and World Series of Poker (WSOP).

The purchase of SuperPlay may allay some of those concerns by bringing new growth outlets into the Playtika portfolio — one that has grown via acquisition and includes some of the highest-grossing mobile games in the various app stores.

“In 2024, both Dice Dreams and Domino Dreams have grown rapidly, boasting a combined 1.7 million Average Daily Active Users as of August,” added Playtika in the statement.

Former Playtika staffers Gilad Almog and Eyal Netzer founded SuperPlay in 2019 and will continue running SuperPlay as an independent studio under the Playtika umbrella.

SuperPlay Brings Growth to Playtika

SuperPlay could immediately improve Playtika’s top line due in part to the success of the aforementioned Dice Dreams. That game was released in 2024 and as of July, it surpassed $400 million, helped in large part by the 2021 release of rival Monopoly Go!

In the three years previous to MONOPOLY GO!’s release, Dice Dreams grossed $125 million: a significant success by most standards. However, since MONOPOLY GO!’s release, Dice Dreams has become supercharged, earning the remaining $275 million to hit this $400 million milestone in a year and a few months,” noted SensorTower.

The research firm pointed out that the US is the primary market for both games and that while the Monopoly game has proven popular, it hasn’t disrupted Dice Dreams’ market share.