Nazara Technologies, a diversified gaming and sports media platform backed by the well-known investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala raises a whopping Rs.350 crore from marquee investors. The fund hence raised will be channeled towards growth initiatives to augment the progress of the company. The company, on the 6th of October, announced the approval of its board for a preferential allotment of fresh equity from marquee investors. Marquee investors include Gamnat Pte Ltd, a GIC-managed investment firm, and Plutus Wealth Management based in Ahmedabad.

Channeling the Funds
For any company, growth is of utmost importance. In order to avoid stagnation, it is necessary for the company to keep moving in the right direction of growth and progress. Nazara technologies intend to use its funds towards the same end. It will channel the funds towards various growth initiatives. It will also be used for pursuing strategic acquisitions across multiple business verticals. These include fields like gamified learning, freemium, skill-based real money gaming and esports, the so-called “Friends of Nazara” as termed by the company
A total of 1.43 million equity shares will be issued by Nazara, each with a face value of Rs.4, at a price of Rs.2206 per equity share. It is expected that Gamnat will acquire a total of 1.1 million shares for Rs. 259.8 crores. This would mean that Gamnat will have a 3,62 percent stake in Nazara. The remaining Rs.55.5 crore will be added by Plutus Wealth Management. Since Plutus already has a stake in the company, the present acquisition of shares will lead to an increase in its stake to 6.92 percent.
Nazara CEO, Manish Agarwal expressed his gratitude to the investors for fully comprehending and supporting the company’s “strategic vision.”
“We are thankful to our investors for their strong endorsement of Nazara’s strategic vision and ability to execute towards its stated goals. The investment from such institutional investors will act as a catalyst for Nazara flywheel to operate faster across all business segments and will result in compounding of the shareholder value organically and inorganically at the parent as well as at subsidiary levels.”
In addition to the issue of shares, the company also stated that it has made an acquisition of about 1,601 shares from Rusk Media, a digital media firm by pumping in Rs.2.02 crore. Rusk Media focuses on the creation of content IPs, particularly for millennial and Gen Z audiences in India. Nazara could make use of the capabilities of Rusk media for the creation of a “scripted reality esports or gaming universe.” In addition to these investments, Nazara also announced an issue of 0.65 million shares to Unnati Management Consultants. This will help Nazara to attain the remaining 76.7% stake in OpenPlay which is already an existing shareholder of Unnati Management Consultants.