Quebec City. Image: © merrvas/Stock.adobe.com
High-quality marketing and compelling trailers are winning strategies in the global games business.
Dublin-headquartered global gaming services player Keywords Studios has agreed to acquire Quebec City-based game marketing assets company Sunny Side Up for €3.8m (C$5.9m).
Under the terms of the deal, more than €3m (C$4.75m) will be paid on completion with the rest paid through 60,179 new ordinary shares in Keywords.
‘As part of the group, Sunny Side Up will be able to leverage our well-established presence in Montreal and Quebec City to support its continued growth’
– ANDREW DAY
Keywords Studios CEO Andrew Day said that the company is on track to achieve analysts’ forecasts of profits of around €37m on revenues of €250m, an increase of 61pc and 65pc respectively year on year.
Playing to win
The acquisition of Sunny Side Up is the latest buy in a formidable acquisition spree in the past year that has seen Keywords Studios snap up a number of firms across the world. These include The Trailer Farm, Fire Without Smoke, Cord and Laced, Blindlight, Snowed In, and Maximal. Keywords has also launched its own venture capital firm, Keywords Ventures.
Sunny Side Up produces high-quality marketing assets for game publishers and developers including game trailers, key art assets and motion graphic production. Established in 2012, Sunny Side Up continues to grow rapidly. It works with many games developers and publishers including Ubisoft, EA and Eidos.
“We are delighted to welcome Thomas and the talented Sunny Side Up team to the Keywords family,” Day said. “Following our acquisitions of Fire Without Smoke and The Trailer Farm, Sunny Side Up’s high-quality game trailers, technical expertise, and marketing service experience further extend the group’s geographic, client reach, and scale in this relatively new and exciting area for Keywords.
“As part of the group, Sunny Side Up will be able to leverage our well-established presence in Montreal and Quebec City to support its continued growth.”
Keywords Studios was established in Dublin in 1998 by Giorgio Guastalla and Teresa Luppino. The company works on video game development for multibillion-dollar gaming giants such as Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Warner Bros, Riot Games, Sony, Supercell, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Nintendo.
The AIM stock exchange-listed company has more than 42 facilities in 20 countries worldwide.
