Animoca Brands finalises sale of mobile games portfolio with iCandy Interactive
Animoca Brands’ stake in iCandy has increased from 7.9% to 15.5%.
Nearly two years after it was first announced, games developer Animoca Brands Corporation has finalised an agreement with iCandy Interactive (ASX: ICI) for the $5 million sale of its mobile games portfolio.
Originally announced in November 2017, the agreement would see iCandy acquire 318 mobile casual games from Animoca Brands, through a combination of cash and shares.
Technical issues
Under the terms of the transaction, Animoca Brands would transfer business and assets related to the portfolio and manage a handover period during which it would continue to publish, operate and maintain the games until iCandy was ready to take over.
However a series of technical issues during handover resulted in the software source codes for some games not transferring across to iCandy.
The delays meant iCandy could not settle a remaining cash consideration of $622,293.34 via the issue of new shares to Animoca Brands.
Animoca Brands subsequently agreed to extend the settlement date for the shares and associated maintenance and migration fees.
Share issue
Today, the companies announced the technical issues had been resolved and iCandy would finalise the outstanding share issue.
Animoca Brands will receive a total of 30,208,415 iCandy shares, increasing its stake in the company from 7.9% to 15.5%.
Additionally, the management of Animoca Brands and iCandy have agreed to work on the acquired game portfolio and explore future collaboration opportunities.
iCandy chairman Kin W Lau praised Animoca Brands’ management of the transaction.
“Animoca Brands has been extremely supportive to [us] and its election to receive iCandy shares for the outstanding consideration of the acquired game portfolio is a show of confidence in the prospects of [our company],” he said.
MasterChef game
Animoca Brands and iCandy have received 500,000 pre-orders and pre-registrations for a new mobile game based on the MasterChef franchise and developed in partnership with series producer Endemol Shine North America.
Launched for android and Apple users, the game allows players to cook and present dishes in competition with other contestants using pre-set ingredients and recipes.
Entries are judged by fellow players in real-time, signalling an interactive gaming experience which is new to the MasterChef franchise.
At mid-afternoon, shares in iCandy were trading 4.35% lower at $0.022.