Announcement of Acquisition of Funzio
Tokyo, Japan - May 2, 2012 - GREE, Inc. announces that as of today, through our subsidiary, GREE International, Inc., we have entered into an agreement to acquire Funzio, Inc., which would result in Funzio becoming an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of GREE.
GREE's acquisition of Funzio marks the latest step in GREE's goal of developing the GREE Platform, the world's premier mobile social gaming platform.
Named one of The Wall Street Journal's “ 50 Most Innovative Start-Ups,” Funzio creates free-to-play simulation RPG games for Android™ and iOS. Funzio's games have achieved broad success through social networking platforms including Facebook and Google+, exceeding 20 million downloads worldwide.
Under the acquisition, GREE will secure popular titles including “Crime City” and “Modern War,” each earning the second highest ranking in the App Store's top grossing games within the U.S.*1 GREE will also obtain Funzio's newest release, “Kingdom Age.”
The acquisition will enable GREE to capitalize on the success of Funzio's existing titles and develop new genres of global games with Funzio's talented team. With the benefit of Funzio's development expertise, GREE will be able to provide an even broader array of quality mobile social games around the world.
As the number of mobile devices rises, GREE continues to expand its global reach by engaging smartphone users through unique, high-quality games. As of December 2011, GREE's robust network reached over 190 million users worldwide. This past March, GREE's North American studio released its first worldwide*2, mobile social game “Zombie Jombie.” GREE plans to launch its new global gaming platform in Q2 2012.
GREE will continue to focus on partnering with leading developers around the globe, providing attractive social games and achieving our target of one billion users globally, in addition to building the number one community service which users worldwide can enjoy.
“This acquisition means a lot to GREE to enhance our global expansion. Games created by Funzio are highly regarded, and show their excellent talent and expertise in mobile social gaming business.” said Yoshikazu Tanaka, founder and CEO of GREE. “We are extremely excited to expand the GREE Platform with Funzio to new global audiences.”
“GREE shares our vision of a mobile world where people can play together wherever and whenever they are.” says Ken Chiu, CEO and Founder of Funzio. “We feel strongly that bringing together our experience in creating unique games for the mid-core market and GREE expertise in bringing the mobile social games to the worldwide community is a perfect match.”
- *1) “Crime City” is as of October 15th, 2011 and “Modern War” is as of December 22nd, 2011
- *2) Major countries excluding Japan, China and Korea
Overview of Acquisition
GREE will acquire Funzio through an all-cash, reverse triangular merger transaction. For purposes of the acquisition, GREE International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GREE in the U.S., has established an acquisition subsidiary which will be merged into Funzio, with Funzio as the surviving corporation. In connection with the acquisition, the cash consideration will be paid to the stockholders and option holders of Funzio. The acquisition is scheduled to be funded through bank loans. For the detailed scheme, please refer to the IR presentation material:
http://corp.gree.net/jp/en/ir/
About Funzio
| Trade name | Funzio, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Representative | Kenneth Chiu, CEO |
| Address | California, USA |
| Establishment | June 2009 |
| Principal business activities | Develops application software for cross-platform (iOS, Android, Facebook and Google+) |
| Major stockholders and ratio of stockholding (as of April 30, 2012) | Institutional Investor (18.8%) Institutional Investor (17.8%) Institutional Investor (11.7%) Institutional Investor (10.5%) Individual Investor (10.1%) |
| Relationship between the listed company and the company concerned | Capital relations:No relations to disclose. Personal relationships:No relations to disclose. Business relationships:No relations to disclose. |
Number of Shares Acquired; Acquisition Price; Stockholdings
| GREE stockholdings prior to acquisition | Shares: 0% Ownership ratio: 0% |
|---|---|
| Number of shares acquired | Shares: Pro forma total 64,726,938 Ratio out of all outstanding shares: 100% Acquisition cost: 210 million U.S. dollars (approximately 16.9 billion yen) |
| Stockholdings after acquisition | Shares: Pro forma total 64,726,938 Ownership ratio: 100% |
- *Exchange rate: 1.00 USD =80.24JPY as of 27 April, 2012
Schedule
May 02, 2012: Execution of the Merger Agreement
The acquisition is scheduled to be completed within the month of May.
The potential impact of this matter on the business performance of GREE is currently being analyzed and has not yet been determined.
About GREE, Inc.
GREE is a global mobile social gaming company at the forefront of mobile technology. GREE is focused on building the leading mobile social gaming ecosystem for users and developers worldwide, with an emphasis on creating and supporting unique free-to-play game content. Following the acquisition of OpenFeint Inc. in April 2011, GREE's robust network now reaches over 190 million players and offers over 7,500 game applications to users around the world. With offices in Tokyo, San Francisco, London, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, and Amsterdam, GREE will continue to expand worldwide.
Contact Information
GREE, Inc. PR
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: pr@gree.co.jp
URL: https://corp.gree.net/jp/en/
Twitter: @GREE_pr_jp
X
facebook
YouTube
Official Blog