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Milan-based entertainment firm Digital Bros has made a potential move to acquire Swedish developer Starbreeze, with the board authorising chairman Abramo Galante to purchase the assets in the Swedish publisher currently held by Korean developer publisher Smilegate Holdings, in a deal priced at €19.2m (£16.2m). Digital Bros currently owns 7% of Starbreeze capital, should the deal prove successful it would subsequently hold 30.18% of total shares along with 40.83% of voting rights, and would therefore be obliged under Swedish law to submit a bid for a full takeover of Starbreeze, as the threshold for submission of a mandatory acquisition bid is 30% of voting rights.
The value of Smilegate’s current holdings in Starbreeze are valued at an estimated €36m (£30m), which consist of a €20.4m (£17.2m) convertible bond, credit of €13.8m (£11.6m) to be paid within five years as part of a court-stipulated reconstruction plan, and Class A and Class B shares worth approximately €1.8m (£1.5m).
As previously covered by TheGamingEconomy, Starbreeze has been undergoing considerable financial distress in the past year, accumulating debts amounting to SEK395.7m (£31.76m) (which the firm has agreed to pay off in full by 2024), and being split into two subsidiaries in reconstruction efforts. Much of Starbreeze’s future relies on finalising a publishing agreement for its upcoming PAYDAY 3 by mid-2020, which will likely now be made with 505 Games, the video game publishing unit of Digital Bros.
Milan-based entertainment firm Digital Bros has made a potential move to acquire Swedish developer Starbreeze, with the board authorising chairman Abramo Galante to purchase the assets in the Swedish publisher currently held by Korean developer publisher Smilegate Holdings, in a deal priced at €19.2m (£16.2m). Digital Bros currently owns 7% of Starbreeze capital, should the deal prove successful it would subsequently hold 30.18% of total shares along with 40.83% of voting rights, and would therefore be obliged under Swedish law to submit a bid for a full takeover of Starbreeze, as the threshold for submission of a mandatory acquisition bid is 30% of voting rights.
The value of Smilegate’s current holdings in Starbreeze are valued at an estimated €36m (£30m), which consist of a €20.4m (£17.2m) convertible bond, credit of €13.8m (£11.6m) to be paid within five years as part of a court-stipulated reconstruction plan, and Class A and Class B shares worth approximately €1.8m (£1.5m).
As previously covered by TheGamingEconomy, Starbreeze has been undergoing considerable financial distress in the past year, accumulating debts amounting to SEK395.7m (£31.76m) (which the firm has agreed to pay off in full by 2024), and being split into two subsidiaries in reconstruction efforts. Much of Starbreeze’s future relies on finalising a publishing agreement for its upcoming PAYDAY 3 by mid-2020, which will likely now be made with 505 Games, the video game publishing unit of Digital Bros.
