Nodwin Gaming acquires a majority stake in full-service live media company Brand | Pocket Gamer.biz

Nodwin International Pte Ltd, the Singaporean subsidiary of Nodwin Gaming, itself a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, has acquired a 51% stake in full-service live media company Branded in an all-cash deal.

With the acquisition, Nodwin will take control of Branded’s existing event IPs, such as Sports Matters and It’s A Girl Thing, as well as onboard an international team led by Branded CEO and co-founder and CEO Jasper Donat who will focus on international sponsorship for Nodwin IPs worldwide.

“IPs like ‘Gaming Matters’, ‘[Sports] Matters’ and ‘It’s A Girl thing’ will add a new dimension to what we already offer. We will also look at the talented branded team taking our existing IPs such as Playground, The Premiership, NH7 and others international,” said NODWIN Gaming co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee.

The transaction is being carried out through a combination of a cash injection and stock acquisitions from Branded’s current shareholders, and funded by internal cash reserves from Nodwin Gaming. Discussing the acquisition, Donat said “We are looking forward to expanding our existing events and IP and co-creating new, exciting properties around the APAC region and beyond.”

Success for Nazara

This acquisition will help to bolster Nazara Technologies’ performance, and play into the company’s growth strategy.

India is one of the biggest, and fastest growing, mobile markets in the world, with a thriving esports scene. Despite this, Global Esports CEO Dr Rushindra Sinha recently stated that the long term prospects of the country’s esports industry was unsustainable in its current form, with little in the way of stability and the bans of popular titles such as Garena Free Fire could impose unique barriers to success. This acquisition suggests that Nazara, for one, believes that there’s still a bright future for the sector.

We listed Nazara Games as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2022.