Animoca goes bananas for Finnish game-maker; shares climb 16pc

Tech Melissa Yeo
asx tech news

Pic: nespix / iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Mobile game developer Animoca has continued its acquisition spree, today announcing it will buy the Finland-based developer behind hit game, Benji Bananas.

Animoca (ASX:AB1) will take control of 100 per cent of Tribeflame, as well as its subsidiary Benji Bananas. The mobile game claim to have more than 35 million players and has generated revenue of €2.25 million ($3.5 million).

The deal is the third major investment for Animoca in the past two months, following a move into Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain gaming with Fuel Powered and a CryptoKitties distribution agreement with Axiom Zen last month.

The shares were trading up 16 per cent at 7.2c in early Wednesday trade – a 500 per cent premium in just six weeks.

Animoca (AB1) share price movement over the past week.
Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1) shares over the past week.

Animoca will dish out €50,000 ($78,000) in cash up-front for the sale, with a further deferred payment of the same again as well as €10,000 ($15,500) over time, depending on revenue.

Finnish developer Tribeflame is the second game company from the Nordic nation to be acquired by Animoca, following the purchase of TicBits in July 2016, the company behind their title Crazy Defense Heroes.

The Finnish gaming industry is said to have grown faster than the global gaming market with a compound average growth rate of 45 per cent in the ten years to 2015.

According to BussinessFinland, the gaming ecosystem in the country of 5.5 million people is the fastest in the world and generates 7 per cent of global mobile game development revenue.

As part of the acquisition, founding developers Torult Jernström and Marcus Alanen will join Animoca in the hopes of fast tracking the development of the android version of the Crazy Defense Heroes game.

AB1’s December quarterly reported $688,000 left in the kitty, with estimated outgoings of $3.5 million, largely to be funded by their latest $3.25 million raise.

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