NewsGMT and NBC Universal take over Bigpoint
docjay
on 06/09/2008 11.35 AM
The German online games developer Bigpoint has been acquired by NBCU's and GE's joint venture Peacock Equity Fund and UK PE Firm GMT Communications Partners, according to Financial Times. Both companies will hold 35 percent of the share. CEO Heiko Hubertz will reinvest his share of the sale to retain 30 percent of the company.
The €70m ($110m) deal, allowing Bigpoint's three initial venture capital investors to sell out, reflects the growing popularity of online gaming with multiple players, after the success of PC games such as World of Warcraft and Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Bigpoint, which turned cash-flow positive six months ago, is making annual revenues of Euro 20 million and 23 million registered users...the company says Peacock will help the company expand into U.S., though the online gaming portal space is crowded here. The company's rather eventful history is here, including name change, reorg, and recap over the years. NBC Universal is hoping that it can accelerate Bigpoint's development in the US by promoting its games on its Sci-Fi and USA cable networks, and creating new games based on their programming. "It very quickly became clear that one of the big opportunities for this business was expansion in the US, and with GE and NBC Universal as our co-investors they can help to achieve this," said Tim Green, managing partner of GMT. www.ft.com
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