Gaming
MTG Gaming AB (Sweden 47.5%; United States 16.6%; Luxembourg 8.2%; United Kingdom 6.8%; Finland 5.5%; Norway 5%; Various 10.4%) got OIO approval to buy Ninja Kiwi Ltd (NZ 100%) for $366,600,000. To quote the OIO: “The Applicant is a digital entertainment company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Both the Applicant and the Vendor are involved in the gaming industry. The Applicant is acquiring up to 100% of the shares in the Vendor’s company. The Applicant intends to assist the Vendor scale its business by leveraging its assets and capabilities. The Applicant has satisfied the investor test criterion”.
Ninja Kiwi has 70 staff in Auckland and Scotland. Interestingly, NZ media reports put the purchase price at $100m-$150m less than that stated in the OIO Decision. It follows a recent pattern of NZ gaming businesses being bought by overseas companies. For example, in 2018, Chinese company Tencent paid at least $100m to buy Kiwi company Grinding Gears.
The full May 2021 Decisions are here:
Pan Pac Forest Products Limted (x3); Pointer Investment (NZ) Limited; Sunny Development New Zealand Limited; Essity Holding Company Australia Pty Ltd; MTG Gaming AB; IDEXX Laboratories Inc.; United Rentals Inc.; Te Au (No. 3) Limited;