Nazara gets go-ahead for Smaaash acquisition from creditors

Listed media and gaming firm Nazara Technologies on Thursday said it had received a letter of intent (LOI) for the acquisition of Sachin Tendulkar-backed sports entertainment firm Smaaash Entertainment, which is undergoing an insolvency process.

On April 17, ET had reported that Nazara and a consortium of financial services firm Resurgent India and Sanjay Lodha had placed formal bids to buy the bankrupt company, with both parties paying a Rs 5-crore earnest money deposit to qualify as bidders. Lodha is the managing director of Faridabad-based technology company Netweb Technologies.

In a stock exchange filing on Thursday, Nazara said the committee of creditors of Smaaash Entertainment had approved the resolution plan submitted by Nazara. The resolution plan is now “subject to the terms of the LOI and requisite approvals from the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal and/or any other regulatory authority/courts/tribunal,” Nazara added.


Smaaash, which was admitted to bankruptcy in May 2022, owes creditors led by Edelweiss ARC about Rs 452 crore. The other lenders are Yes Bank, Sidbi and Mabella Investment Advisors.

Resolution professional (RP) Bhrugesh Amin has listed gaming machines, go-kart, bowling alleys and other entertainment devices spread across 13 centres as its assets. This is the third resolution process for Smaaash after the previous two rounds were scrapped due to litigation and other complications.

Meanwhile, Nazara also announced the acquisition of UK-based gaming studio Fusebox Games for Rs 228 crore ($27.2 million). In the past few months, Nazara has made several acquisitions, particularly through its esports and events arm Nodwin, including events firm Comic Con India, West Asia and Turkey-focused marketing firm Publishme, Singapore-based events firm Branded, and Turkish esports and gaming firm Ninja Global.

On August 6, Nazara’s unit Absolute Sports acquired all assets of US-based gaming content firm Deltias Gaming for Rs 7.5 crore.