Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara raises Rs 315 crore from marquee investors

Nazara Technologies, India's first listed gaming company that is backed by billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has raised Rs 315 crore from marquee investors by issuing fresh equity to them.

The allotment is subject to shareholders' and regulatory approvals.

“The company will issue 1,429,266 equity shares of face value of Rs 4 each at a price of Rs 2,206/- per equity share (including a premium of Rs 2,202 per equity share),” according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. These shares will be locked in for a period of one year from the date of issue, as per SEBI guidelines.


The capital will be used for growth initiatives as well as to pursue strategic acquisitions across verticals to expand the company’s “Friends of Nazara” ecosystem, the filing stated.

“The investment from such institutional investors will act as a catalyst for the Nazara flywheel to operate faster across all business segments and will result in compounding of shareholder value organically and inorganically at parent as well as at subsidiary levels,” Nazara CEO Manish Agarwal said in the filing.

The “Friends of Nazara” network includes gaming startups in which Nazara holds majority stakes. These are:

• Nodwin Gaming and Sportskeeda in the esports vertical
  
• Next Wave Multimedia, creator of World Cricket Championships
  
• Paper Boat Apps, creator of gamified early learning app Kiddopia
  
• Halaplay and Openplay in the skill-based, real-money gaming vertical
  

On Wednesday, Nazara Technologies shares rose 5.60% to Rs 2,630.80 apiece on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.93% lower at 59,189.73 points.