$262 Billion Private Equity Group EQT-Led Consortium Bidco Including Singapore Temasek (Rosa Investments) & CPP Investments Buys Ireland-Based Video Game Services Keywords Studios for $2.8 Billion Representing 66.7% Premium to Closing Price on 17th May 2024, EQT BPEA Fund VIII to Own 51%, CPPIB PHI4 24.5% & Rosa Investments 24.5%
10th July 2024 | Hong Kong
Leading private equity group EQT with $262 billion AUM (EUR 242 billion) led consortium Bidco (including Singapore Temasek (Rosa Investments) & CPP Investments) has announced to buy Ireland-based video game services Keywords Studios for $2.8 billion (£2.2 billion) representing 66.7% premium to closing price on 17th May 2024. With the acquisition by Bidco, EQT BPEA Fund VIII will own 51% of Bidco, CPPIB PHI4 24.5% & Rosa Investments 24.5%. Announcement (3/7/24): “The boards of Bidco and Keywords Studios are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Keywords Studios by Bidco. The Acquisition is to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act. The Acquisition values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Keywords Studios at approximately £2.1 billion on a fully diluted basis, and implies an enterprise value of approximately £2.2 billion and a multiple of approximately 15.9 times Keywords Studios’ adjusted EBITDA for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2023 of £139 million.”
“ $262 Billion Private Equity Group EQT-Led Consortium Bidco Including Singapore Temasek (Rosa Investments) & CPP Investments Buys Ireland-Based Video Game Services Keywords Studios for $2.8 Billion Representing 66.7% Premium to Closing Price on 17th May 2024, EQT BPEA Fund VIII to Own 51%, CPPIB PHI4 24.5% & Rosa Investments 24.5% “
Keywords Studios is a global provider of fully integrated creative and technology-enabled solutions to the video games and entertainment industries. Established in 1998, and now with over 70 facilities in 26 countries strategically located in Asia, Australia, the Americas, and Europe, it provides services across the entire content development life cycle through its Create, Globalize and Engage divisions to a large blue-chip client base across the globe. Keywords Studios provides services to 24 of the top 25 most prominent games companies and contributes to over 70 per cent. of the 2023 Game Awards winners. Across the games and entertainment industry, clients include Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Konami, Microsoft, Netflix, Riot Games, Square Enix, Supercell, TakeTwo, Tencent and Ubisoft. Recent titles worked on include Starfield, Baldur’s Gate 3, Diablo IV and Hogwarts Legacy. Keywords Studios is a public limited company registered in England and Wales. The Keywords Studios Shares are currently admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange.
Bidco is a newly formed private limited company incorporated in England and Wales. In due course, Bidco will be indirectly owned by EQT’s BPEA Fund VIII, and equity co-investors CPP Investments, acting through its wholly-owned subsidiary CPPIB PHI4, and Rosa Investments. As at the Effective Date, it is intended that Bidco will be owned in the following proportions: (i) EQT’s BPEA Fund VIII will indirectly own 51.0 per cent. and (ii) each of CPPIB PHI4 and Rosa Investments will indirectly own 24.5 per cent.
BPEA Fund VIII is part of EQT Private Capital Asia’s flagship private equity investment strategy, focused on large-cap buyouts. In October 2022, EQT combined with BPEA and in January 2024, BPEA rebranded as EQT and is known as EQT Private Capital Asia. With US$11.2 billion in capital commitments, BPEA VIII is one of the largest funds ever raised in Asia-Pacific. EQT Private Capital Asia’s buyout strategy targets control buyouts of companies in the pan-Asian region or with business links to Asia and takes a thematic approach to investing, focused on services, technology and healthcare. Its core markets include India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia, as well as cross-border investments for which Asia represents a meaningful driver of returns. Over the past 27 years, EQT Private Capital Asia has made more than 140 investments, and today, the current portfolio employs more than 400,000 people globally, with a strong focus on tech-enabled businesses with global delivery footprints.
CPP Investments is a global professional investment management organisation that invests the assets transferred to it by the CPP that are not currently needed by the CPP to pay current benefits in the best interests of 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. CPP Investments was incorporated in 1997 and made its first investment in March 1999. In order to build a diversified portfolio, CPP Investments invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the CPP and at arm’s length from the government of Canada. As at March 31, 2024, CPP Investments had C$632.3 billion (approximately £370 billion) assets under management, of which C$26.2 billion (approximately £15 billion) is invested in the UK. CPPIB PHI4 is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CPP Investments, and is the entity through which CPP Investments will invest in Bidco.
Rosa Investments is a private limited company incorporated in Singapore and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek. Rosa Investments is the entity through which Temasek will invest in Bidco. Temasek is a global investment company with a net portfolio value of S$382 billion (approximately £232 billion) as at 31 March 2023. Founded in Singapore in 1974, Temasek operates on commercial principles and invests thematically in line with long term structural trends, with the aim of building a resilient and forward looking portfolio that delivers sustainable returns over the long term. Temasek has overall corporate credit ratings of Aaa/AAA by rating agencies Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings respectively. Headquartered in Singapore, Temasek has 13 offices in 9 countries around the world: Beijing, Hanoi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore in Asia; and London, Brussels, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Mexico City outside Asia.
$262 Billion Private Equity Group EQT-Led Consortium Bidco Including Singapore Temasek (Rosa Investments) & CPP Investments Buys Ireland-Based Video Game Services Keywords Studios for $2.8 Billion Representing 66.7% Premium to Closing Price on 17th May 2024, EQT BPEA Fund VIII to Own 51%, CPPIB PHI4 24.5% & Rosa Investments 24.5%
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