Special Report: There are few companies on the ASX — small, medium or big — with the momentum that Animoca Brands has established this year.

The mobile gaming company Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1), which has tripled in value in 2019 thanks to a steady stream of announcements about new games, partnerships, acquisitions, and talent hires, is now acquiring Quidd, a world-leading digital collectibles marketplace.

Animoca Brands also raised $8 million from strategic, Australian institutional and existing shareholders to provide working capital for the acquisition and advance various projects.

The Quidd acquisition is a smart one for Animoca Brands. A digital goods company, Quidd owns and operates a global marketplace for selling, buying and trading digital collectibles, and is partnered with some of the world’s biggest names such as Disney, Marvel, HBO, CBS and the NBA.

AB1 shares closed at 20c, the highest point since early 2016. 

Quidd has issued over 2.1 billion digital collectibles to a whopping 6.8 million unique users, and had an average of 208,000 monthly active users for the first half of 2019. The transaction significantly increases Animoca Brands’ economic potential in the digital collectibles sector as it will lead to tie-ups with premier content owners.

Animoca Brands has grand plans to expand the currently New York-based Quidd into the large digital collectible markets in Europe and Asia.

 

Michael Bramlage, co-founder and CEO of Quidd, said he was excited to be joining Animoca Brands.

“From the beginning, we’ve held a strong conviction that digital collecting would contribute meaningfully to the $15 billion physical collectibles industry,” he said. 

“By joining the Animoca Brands family, we will accelerate our mission to bring Quidd’s inimitable catalog of digital collectibles to a global audience and to enable true digital ownership for millions of mainstream digital collectors.”

>> Read More: Shares in Animoca Brands have soared by 75pc this year as investors embrace the company’s growth strategy

Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, said that Quidd would provide a large boost to the core competences and business interests of his company.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome the highly talented team behind Quidd, who will assist us in the execution of our vision for branded digital collectibles,” he said.

“Our brand portfolio will grow substantially through this acquisition, and we look forward to working with even more of the world’s most powerful intellectual properties such as Marvel, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, the NBA, and many others.”

>> Now watch: 90 Seconds with…. Yat Sui, Animoca Brands

This story was developed in collaboration with Animoca Brands, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This story does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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