Keywords is an international technical service provider to the global Video Game Industry with offices in Dublin, Tokyo, Seattle, Montreal and Rome. Working on a worldwide basis, we provide a range of linguistic, testing, and quality control services to Video Game Developers and Publishers alike.

Keywords is focused 100% on the localization and testing of video games. Our experience and dedication to this field allows us to provide our clients with games that connect to their core audience, no matter what language they speak.

With our principal operations hub in Dublin, Keywords works globally. Our business is international in every sense so we are available to clients in North America and Japan just as we are available to those based in Europe. Providing our clients access to us so we can service their needs is tremendously important. There are points of contact ready to speak with our customers during all global business hours.

http://www.keywordsintl.com/en

Proactive investor -

Keywords Studios founders sell shares to meet demand


16:30 12 May 2016

Video game industry supplier's founders sell about 5.5mln shares

Keywords Studios founders sell shares to meet demand

The sale will enable Keywords to satisfy institutional demand for its shares


The founders of video game industry supplier Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) are selling shares to meet institutional demand.

Keywords, which provides technical services to video game developers, said non-executive director Giorgio Guastalla and chief executive Andrew Day have together sold up to 5.5 million shares.

They have sold the shares, which represent about 10.2% of the company’s issued share capital, through their holding company PEQ Holdings.

PEQ and Andrew Day will keep about two thirds of their stakes or 14.8%. and 7.2%, respectively, of the issued ordinary share capital.

Day said: "The proposed sale will enable Keywords to satisfy institutional demand for the group's shares and broaden our shareholder base, whilst also allowing Giorgio to diversify his family's portfolio of investments which

has substantively been in Keywords since he and his wife founded the business in 1998.

"This is the first sale of shares since the IPO in 2013.”

Proactive investor - Over at video games services supplier Keywords Studios (LON:KWS), it will beat market forecasts when it reports interim results next month.

Recently acquired localisation and audio business Synthesis has been the driver, though its ‘excellent’ first half was in part due to a beneficial phasing of revenues between the first and second half.

Half year trading update

RNS


RNS Number : 9086F

Keywords Studios PLC

02 August 2016




2 August 2016







Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios" or "the Group")



Half year trading update



Strong first half performance provides confidence for the full year



Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry today provides an update on trading after another half year period of good like for like* growth substantially complemented by acquisitions.



The Group is pleased to announce that it expects to report revenues and adjusted PBT** comfortably ahead of expectations when it announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2016 in mid-September 2016. The outperformance was driven primarily by the recently acquired Localisation and Audio business, Synthesis; this delivered an excellent first half performance due in large part to a beneficial phasing of revenues between the first and second half. Given that it remains relatively early into our typically important second half, we are maintaining guidance for the year as a whole although the strong performance in the first six months naturally gives us a good level of confidence in delivering against our expectations for the full year.



Since the start of the year we have made four acquisitions. Synthesis has been exceptionally busy delivering its normal flow of audio, localisation and localisation testing projects in addition to managing some very large new localisation and audio projects that have come together in the past three months, contributing to an atypical trading pattern in which their peak production period has been both sharp and early in the year. The Manila based customer support team acquired from Ankama is moving to larger, newly fitted out offices and is expanding to deliver services to additional clients. Mindwalk joined the Group with effect from 1 June 2016 and is trading very much in line with our expectations. The acquisition of the Volta studio (announced on 29 July 2016), which provides concept art services, has extended the Group's Art service offering further upstream. The Group also brought forward the acquisition of the 50% of Kite Team it did not already own, a move that allowed for the integration of the operations of Synthesis in Spain, Brazil and Mexico with those of Kite Team and existing Keywords business in those territories. In addition, we are announcing today that the earn-out associated with the acquisition of Liquid Violet that was acquired in January 2014 has come to its planned conclusion. The final payments due under this agreement have now been made making the total paid for Liquid Violet c. £1.1m.



Across the games industry the mediums of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality continue to capture the headlines and while we are major recipients of services for art, audio, localisation and testing services for this innovative content, we believe the real potential is a few years hence.



The Group is continuing its acquisition strategy and maintains a healthy pipeline of high quality acquisition opportunities. The credit facility of up to €15m established with Barclays Bank, which was announced in May 2016 and has been used to help fund the Mindwalk and Volta acquisitions, leaves us well placed to complete further selective acquisitions this year.



The Group has not seen and does not expect any impact on trading of the UK referendum vote. The Board attributes this to the global nature of the business's earnings, and the fact that only 3% of revenues are denominated in sterling.



Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords, commented:



"We are delighted with our progress so far this year and are particularly pleased with the excellent contribution from Synthesis. This has enabled us to deliver a first half performance substantially ahead of our expectations such that we do not expect this year to be characterised by the typical weighting towards the second half. However, the strong first half underpins our confidence in our ability to meet expectations for the year as whole.



"We continue to win new clients and grow market share and are regularly seeing the benefits of our wide geographic reach and broad range of services as we introduce additional services to established clients.



"Overall, we look forward to another good year of progress as we continue to invest in existing and new businesses, building our talent pool and integrating the newer members of our Group."



* calculated on the basis of revenues being included for 2016 acquisitions from the date of acquisition and for the same period in the prior year

**The Group reports adjusted PBT before acquisition and integration expenses, share option charges, amortisation of intangibles and foreign currency gains

2 Aug Numis 390.00 Buy
2 Aug finnCap 334.00 Buy

Half-year Report

RNS


RNS Number : 6268J

Keywords Studios PLC

13 September 2016




13 September 2016



To view the Interim consolidated statement of changes in equity, please click here



http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6268J_1-2016-9-12.pdf



Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios", "the Group")



Half year results for the six months to 30 June 2016



Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today provides its half year results for the six months to 30 June 2016.



Financial overview:

· Revenue, including contribution from acquisitions, increased by 77% to €42.4m (H1 2015: €23.9m)

· Adjusted profit before tax* up 177% to €6.0m (H1 2015: €2.2m)

· Adjusted earnings per share* up 99% to 8.55c (H1 2015: 4.29c)

· Net cash of €3.5m (H1 2015: €6.1m) after €13.7m of acquisition cash consideration and costs

· 10% increase in interim dividend to 0.44p per share (2015: 0.40p)



* before acquisition and integration expenses of €0.7m (H1 2015: €0.7m), share option charges of €0.3m (H1 2015: €0.1m), amortisation of intangibles of €0.6m (H1 2015: €0.4m) and foreign currency loss of €1.8m (H1 2015: €0.6m gain)



Operational overview:

· 30% increase in like for like** revenue includes exceptional second quarter performance by Synthesis

· Continued to invest in the development of the Group:

o Acquisition of leading localisation, audio and localisation testing business, Synthesis, in April

o Acquisition of China-based outsourced art creation firm Mindwalk completed in May

o Acquisition of Philippines-based customer support team from Ankama in March

o Acquisition of remaining 50% in Spanish and Latin American audio and localisation firm, Kite Team in April

o Further strengthened senior management team with three key appointments

· Five year revolving credit facility of up to €15m with Barclays Bank Plc secured

· 18% increase in clients using three or more services from 51 to 60***



** calculated on the basis of revenues being included for 2016 acquisitions from the date of acquisition and for the equivalent period in the prior year.

*** measured on a rolling 12-month basis, comparing 12 months ended June 2016 to the 12 months ended June 2015.



Current trading and outlook:

· Acquisition of Quebec City-based Volta in July 2016, has extended Group services into Concept Art

· Trading in the first two months of the second half has been in line with the Board's expectations. The particularly strong first half leaves the Board confident in delivering market expectations for the full year

· Selectively reviewing a strong acquisition pipeline





Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords Studios, commented:



"The Group has delivered a first half performance comfortably ahead of our expectations, driven by good organic growth, but also substantially complemented by acquisitions which have further extended our service offering, market penetration and geographic reach.



"The Group's strong trading in the first eight months of the year means that we do not expect this year to be characterised by the typical weighting towards the second half. This performance gives us increased confidence in delivering against our expectations for the full year.



"We look forward to continuing to develop the business both organically, by extending relationships with many of our existing major games clients, and by acquisition, as we continue to review selective opportunities that could further extend our service offering or market penetration."

Acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 4482N
Keywords Studios PLC
26 October 2016
 
26th October 2016
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of Player Research Ltd
Service extension into player behavioural research
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired Player Research Ltd  ("Player Research") for a total consideration of up to £1.3 million from its founder, Graham McAllister, and others (the "Sellers"). Based in Brighton, UK, Player Research provides consulting and user testing from its state of the art play testing laboratory to mobile, console and VR game developers throughout the world, helping them to attract, retain and monetise players.
 
The acquisition of Player Research is in line with Keywords' strategy to extend its services, with the objective of providing end to end services to its global client base covering all aspects of game production and live operations support. Player Research's technology, methodology and knowhow can be exported to Keywords secure production facilities in locations like Montreal, Dublin, Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing providing much increased capacity, whilst also expanding the services in a way that adapts them to the varied nationalities and cultures allowing clients to better tailor their games for their targeted audiences.
 
Player Research was founded in 2012 by Graham McAllister and employs a number of PhDs and MScs at its research laboratory in Brighton, with expertise in fields such as Human-Computer Interaction, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Experimental Psychology, Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology.
 
Under the terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing, Keywords is paying an initial consideration comprised of £700,000 in cash and the issue to the Sellers of 65,280 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a two-year lock in period. Further cash consideration of up to £300,000 may be payable subject to Player Research achieving certain targets within two years of the acquisition.
 
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 65,280 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 31 October 2016. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 54,404,001 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 54,404,001 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.
 
 
Giacomo Duranti, Chief Operating Officer, commented:
"Keywords and Player Research have been exploring opportunities together over the past 3 years. As both companies have expanded their services to multiple points along the games lifecycle the fit between us has become increasingly apparent. We believe that by integrating Player Research within the Group, and rolling out its services into our existing studios to provide reach into all major gaming regions, we will be able to leverage the intellectual capital, talent pool and execution capability of both organisations to significantly enhance the value we are able to bring to our clients. We are delighted to be able to welcome Player Research's highly talented team to the Keywords family and we look forward to working closely together to build upon Player Research's excellent reputation and loyal client base."

26 Oct
finnCap
475.00
Buy

Trading Update
RNS
RNS Number : 4386O
Keywords Studios PLC
07 November 2016
 
7 November 2016
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios" or "the Group")
Trading Update
Significantly ahead of expectations for the year ended 31 December 2016
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, is pleased to announce that it now anticipates that revenues and adjusted PBT* for the full year to 31 December 2016 will be significantly ahead of current market expectations.  
This outperformance has been driven primarily by recently acquired localisation and audio business, Synthesis, sustaining higher levels of activity during the second half of the financial year than previously anticipated after a particularly strong second quarter which benefitted from a number of large projects alongside its normal flow of activity. In addition, strong like for like** growth across the business has reflected better than anticipated performances in localisation and audio, a sustained increase in demand for art services since the first half of the financial year and a continuation of the trends seen in the first half within the localisation testing, functional testing and customer services activities.
Beyond Synthesis, the acquisitions we have made since the beginning of the year of the Manila based customer support team, Ankama; the China-based outsourced art creation firm, Mindwalk; Volta studio which took us into concept art services; and the 50% of Kite Team not previously owned are integrating well and performing in line with expectations.
As a consequence, the Board expects adjusted PBT for the current year to be not less than €14m.
Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords, commented:
"We are delighted with our strong progress so far this year and that we now anticipate delivering a performance significantly ahead of market expectations for the year as a whole.
"Having announced the acquisition of Player Research, the UK-based provider of player behavioural research consulting and user experience testing services, on 26 October 2016, we maintain a healthy pipeline of selectively chosen acquisition targets which we continue to review. These have the potential to extend our service offering, geographical reach and/or market penetration and to offer operational synergies as we leverage our existing facilities and management. In addition, we look forward to continuing to develop the business organically by investing in growing our existing and previously acquired businesses.
"We are starting to see signs of consolidation of the supplier base at a number of our clients which is something we welcome and have expected as a natural response from the games industry to an increasingly complex environment of multiple games platforms, now including Virtual and Augmented Reality, expanding geographies and languages and a multitude of monetisation models. We believe we are uniquely well positioned to benefit from this consolidation and, although there will inevitably be both wins and losses, overall we expect to be a net beneficiary of this process. We, therefore, remain very confident of our strategy and, at this early stage, maintain our current, cautiously optimistic expectations for 2017."
* before acquisition and integration expenses, share option charges, amortisation of intangibles and foreign currency movements.
** calculated on the basis of revenues being included for 2016 acquisitions from the date of acquisition and for the equivalent period in the prior year.

7 Nov
Numis
525.00
Buy
7 Nov
finnCap
475.00
Buy

Acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 4012P
Keywords Studios PLC
17 November 2016
 
17 November 2016
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of Enzyme Testing Labs
-      Strengthening the Group's testing capabilities
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired Global Video-Games Services Inc. ("GVGS") together with its subsidiary companies including its principal trading entity, Enzyme Testing Labs Inc.  ("Enzyme Testing Labs") (together "Enzyme") from its founders, Yan Cyr and Emmanuel Viau and Fonds d'Investissement de la Culture et des Communications (FICC) (the "Sellers").
 
Under the terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be earnings enhancing, Keywords Studios is paying the sellers and settling the financing obligations of FICC to a total of CAD$5.4m. This is being satisfied by the payment of CAD$4.9m in cash to the Sellers and CAD$0.5m to FICC in repayment of loans advanced to GVGS. This will be funded from the Group's existing cash resources.
 
Founded in 2002, Enzyme is one of the most recognised technical services brands in the video games industry. The consolidated, audited accounts for the year to 31 December 2015 show revenue of CAD$11.5m and profit before interest and tax of CAD$1.3m. Net assets at closing after adjusting for the loans being repaid are estimated to be CAD$2.3m.
 
Based in Montreal and St-Jérôme (60 km from Montreal) and with an office in Kawasaki near Tokyo, Enzyme's strengths are in Functional and Localisation Testing of video games for leading game publishers and developers. In addition, it provides Localisation Services and Focus Group Testing; the latter fitting well with recently acquired Player Research. Combining Enzyme with Keywords will significantly increase Keywords' Functional Testing capacity (which accounted for 8% of Group revenue in the first half of 2016) and provide significant operational synergies within the Group.  The business will be integrated into Keywords during the course of 2017 and we anticipate the resulting synergies will deliver significant margin improvement.
 
 
Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords Studios, commented:
"The acquisition of Enzyme brings together two of the leading video games testing providers, reinforcing Keywords' position as the market leader in the field, with testing operations in Montreal, St-Jérôme, Seattle, Tokyo, Singapore, New Delhi, Milan and Dublin.
"The acquisition will not only generate considerable cost synergies but it will provide greater scale, flexibility and breadth of services for our combined interactive media clients globally.
"We warmly welcome Enzyme's highly talented and passionate employees to the fast growing Keywords Studios family as we work together to deliver the highest quality, cost effective services to our clients around the world."

17 Nov
Numis
555.00
Buy
17 Nov
finnCap
500.00
Buy

On Wednesday, Keywords Studios PLC (KWS:LSE) closed at 513.00, 0.00% below its 52-week high of 513.00, set on Nov 21, 2016.

Acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 6333S
Keywords Studios PLC
22 December 2016
 
22nd December 2016
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of Sonox Audio Solutions, S.L.U.
-      Strengthening the Group's Audio services
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired Sonox Audio Solutions, S.L.U. ("Sonox") for a total consideration of €650,000 from its founder, Francisco Barreras Benavente (the "Sellers"). Based in Madrid, Spain, Sonox provides audio recording and localisation services to video game companies targeting Spanish and Latin American markets.
 
Founded in 2010 by Francisco Barreras Benavente, Sonox has three audio recording studios in Madrid and manages a well-established network of translators, voice actors, audio engineers and voice directors in Spain. In addition, Sonox works with partner studios in Mexico and Brazil to provide audio and localisation services for those territories. Sonox also already provides certain services to the Group and its acquisition will enable the Group to capture the margins on those services. Following the acquisition, Francisco Barreras Benavente and the Sonox management  team will remain in the Group.
 
Under the terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be earnings enhancing in 2017 Keywords is satisfying the consideration through the payment of €500,000 in cash and the issue to the Sellers of 24,881 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a two-year lock in period.  
 
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 24,881 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 30 December 2016. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 54,428,882 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 54,428,882 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.
 
Fulvio Sioli, Regional Managing Director, Europe, Keywords Studios commented:
"Sonox has been working with Synthesis Iberia for some years and with a growing portfolio of leading game publishers as its clients. The merging of Sonox, Synthesis and Kite Team in Madrid presents a unique opportunity to establish clear leadership in this key market for games audio and text localisation. The facilities, talent and financial strength of our audio offering in Spain is truly unrivalled.
"We are delighted to be able to welcome Sonox's highly talented team to the Keywords family and we look forward to working closely together to fully integrate all three of our businesses in Madrid and build upon the excellent reputation enjoyed by them all."

Trading Statement

RNS


RNS Number : 2791W

Keywords Studios PLC

08 February 2017




8 February 2017







Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios" or "the Group")



Full year trading update



Sales and profits ahead of expectations for the year ended 31 December 2016

- Continued strong organic growth complemented by successful acquisitions

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry today provides an update on trading following a year of further strong organic growth and geographic expansion, complemented by a number of successful acquisitions.



The Group is pleased to announce preliminary unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2016 of €96.6m and adjusted PBT* of €14.8m, both of which are comfortably ahead of consensus market expectations. This performance has been driven by strong like-for-like growth, due to the continued growth of the established business as well as the contribution of the eight acquisitions completed during the year.



The Group continues to deliver on its strategy of growing organically and through acquisition in order to become the "go to" supplier of technical services to the video games industry globally. To this end, the Group is now comprised of six globally managed service lines operating from 27 production studios in 16 countries. During the year, the Group welcomed seven new businesses through acquisition; Ankama, Synthesis, Mindwalk, Volta, Player Research, Enzyme and Sonox have all contributed positively in further extending our client penetration, our geographic reach and the talent we have within the Group. Also acquired during the year was the 50% of Kite Team not already owned by the Group.



The Group invested cash of €20.7m for the eight acquisitions completed in 2016. These acquired businesses performed well and as previously reported, Synthesis, our largest investment to date, delivered an excellent performance. Following these acquisitions, the Group had €17m in cash at the year end and had utilised €8m of its €15m rolling credit facility. Its strong cash generation, coupled with available debt facilities, provides the Group with good headroom for further acquisitions in 2017.



Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords, commented:



"Our Group continues to grow revenues and profits whilst also growing a talent pool that is increasingly recognised as a resource that enables clients around the world to reduce complexity and focus on their core business of designing and publishing great video games. The development of new Virtual and Augmented Reality platforms only adds to that complexity and, whilst we have not assumed stronger demand for our services in this area in 2017 compared to 2016, it's an exciting new form of content delivery that brings greater interactivity to many content types and requires the skills and services that we have developed over many years at the forefront of interactive content.



"We have structured the management of the Group in order to support both further organic growth and the continued consolidation of our highly fragmented markets around the world.



"Our cross-selling efforts continue to bear fruit and we begin 2017 with a global sales and sales support team of 14 compared to 9 in 2016, which will help drive further organic growth. We also remain well-funded and continue to review a healthy pipeline of complementary acquisition opportunities, which will add to the talent pool, range of services, production capacity and the choice we can offer our clients. Although it's early in 2017, we are therefore confident of making continued progress in the year ahead."



*The Group reports adjusted PBT before acquisition and integration expenses, share option charges, amortisation of intangibles and foreign currency gains



Ends

8 Feb finnCap 692.00 Buy

Acquisition
RNS
RNS Number : 1341X
Keywords Studios PLC
17 February 2017
 
17th February 2017
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of Spov Ltd,
Strengthening the Group's Art Services line of business
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired Spov Ltd. ("Spov") for a total consideration of up to £1.2m in cash from its founder, Allen Leitch. Based in London, UK, Spov provides creative development, cinematics, UI, visual effects and motion graphics services to the video game and film markets. (www.spov.tv)
 
Founded in 2007 by Allen Leitch, Spov maintains a small team of creatives in London and manages a network of highly experienced designers, animators, film makers and artists to produce intricate footage for use in video games, film and TV. The company has worked on titles that include Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Watch Dogs, The Division, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare; Batman: Arkham Knight and Marvel's Doctor Strange.
 
 
Fred Stockton, Global Art Service Line Director, Keywords Studios commented:
 
"We are thrilled to have Allen and the Spov team of talented creative professionals join the Art Service Line at Keywords Studios.  Their skills and experience will enhance our ability to provide a broader range of services to our clients.  Likewise, we look forward to meeting with Spov clients to share with them the full spectrum of capabilities that Keywords Studios has to offer.  This acquisition will strengthen our market position as a leading provider of digital art services and will contribute to our continuing growth in this area."

Final Results
RNS
RNS Number : 4493B
Keywords Studios PLC
04 April 2017
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 
4 April 2017
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios", "the Group")
 
Full year results for the year to 31 December 2016
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today provides its full year results for the year to 31 December 2016.
 
Financial overview:
·     Group revenue (including effect of acquisitions) increased by 67% to €96.6m (2015: €58.0m)
·     Gross margin further improved to 38.0% (2015: 37.6%)
·     Adjusted profit before tax* increased by 86% to €14.9m (2015: €8.0m)
·     Adjusted basic earnings per share* up by 61% to 20.59c (2015: 12.81c)
·     Net cash flow from operating activities of €15.0m (2015: €3.4m)
·     Net cash** of €8.7m (2015: €17.3m)
·     10% increase in dividend to 1.33p per share (2015: 1.21p)
 
*before acquisition and integration expenses of €1.3m (2015: €1.1m), share option charges of €0.7m (2015: €0.4m), amortisation of intangibles of €1.6m (2015: €0.9m), and foreign currency loss of €1.7m (2015: loss of €0.5m)
 
**after payment of €21.1m net cash consideration for acquisitions (2015:  €7.4m) and €1.3m of acquisition costs and integration expenses (2015:  €1.1m), and including €8.4m of bank borrowings.
 
Operational overview:
·     24% increase in like for like*** revenue includes very strong performance by Synthesis
·     Eight acquisitions completed in the year as we continue to invest in the development of the Group:
o  Acquisition of customer support business, Ankama, in March
o  Acquisition of Beijing-based art creation business, Mindwalk, in May
o  Localisation, audio and localisation testing business, Synthesis, acquired in April
o  Acquired the 50% of Kite Team it did not already own in April
o  Acquisition of Quebec City-based concept art specialist, Volta, in July
o  Acquisition of consulting and user testing business, Player Research, in October
o  Acquired functional and localisation testing business in Montreal and St-Jerome, Enzyme, in November
o  Acquisition of Madrid-based audio and localisation services firm, Sonox Audio, completed in December
·     25% increase in clients using three or more services from 51 to 64****
 
*** calculated on the basis of revenues being included for 2016 acquisitions from the date of acquisition and for the equivalent period in the prior year.
**** measured on a rolling 12-month basis, comparing 12 months ended December 2016 to the 12 months ended December 2015.
 
Post period end / current trading:
·     Trading in the first two months of the year has been in line with the Board's expectations
·     Terms agreed for a revolving credit facility of up to €35m with Barclays Bank, which will provide further headroom for selective acquisitions
·     Continue to selectively review a strong acquisition pipeline
o  Acquisition of London-based Art creation agency, SPOV, providing services including; cinematics, UI, visual effects and motion graphics in February 2017
 
Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords Studios, commented:
 
"2016 saw Keywords continue to grow strongly, both organically and through acquisitions which increased our capacity and scale in existing service lines and expanded our service capabilities and geographical reach.
"This performance has seen the Group grow from full year revenues of just over €14m prior to its IPO in July 2013, derived from four service lines and five studios across three continents, to revenues of nearly €100m derived from six service lines and 27 studios across four continents at the end of 2016.
 
"We fully expect to make continued good progress during 2017 as we take advantage of the synergies afforded by our enlarged platform and as we make further selective acquisitions, with the support of our strong cash generation and enlarged debt facilities."
 
A presentation of the full year results will be made to analysts later this morning at MHP's offices.

4 Apr
finnCap
692.00
Buy

Acquisition of XLOC Inc.
RNS
RNS Number : 6675E
Keywords Studios PLC
10 May 2017
 
10th May 2017
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of XLOC Inc.
-      Globalization technology platform acquisition
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired XLOC Inc. ("XLOC") for a total consideration of $0.9 million from its founders, Stephanie O'Malley and Mason Deming (the "Sellers").
 
Based in Raleigh, NC, XLOC has developed the leading web-based integrated globalization content management system for videogames (XLOC), supported by consulting and customisation services.  Its proprietary software application can be integrated with any games development platform and enables game developers and publishers to more efficiently manage and automate the complex process of localising games content across multiple languages and platforms for simultaneous global launches and continuous publishing. 
 
The acquisition of XLOC is in line with Keywords Studios' strategy to extend its services, with the objective of providing end to end services to its global client base covering all aspects of game production and live operations support.
 
XLOC was founded in 2004 by Stephanie O'Malley and Mason Deming who had gained extensive experience of the localisation process through former roles in production and technology within Activision and by advising many leading video game development studios. The founders, along with the rest of the XLOC team, will remain in the Group.
 
Under the terms of the acquisition Keywords is paying a consideration comprised of $700,000 in cash and the issue to the Sellers of 19,134 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a two-year lock in period.
 
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 19,134 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 15 May 2017. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 55,636,269 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 55,636,269 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.
 
 
Fabio Minazzi, Global Head of Keywords Studios' Localisation Services, commented:
"We are delighted to welcome XLOC's talented team to Keywords Studios, having worked well together and recommended each other's solutions across many game titles over several years. XLOC brings to the Group a scaleable, leading, proprietary software application that is embedded in to the localisation processes of games developers.  Its system is relied upon from an earlier stage than Keywords Studios has typically been involved and will enable the Group to provide integrated software and services across the full localisation cycle, in addition to offering XLOC as a standalone solution.
"We look forward to working closely with XLOC to build upon their excellent reputation and loyal client base."

Acquisition of GameSim Inc.
RNS
RNS Number : 3530F
Keywords Studios PLC
17 May 2017
 
17 May 2017
 
 
 
Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords Studios", "the Group")
 
Acquisition of GameSim Inc. established a new, Engineering, service line
 
Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces the acquisition of GameSim Inc. ("GameSim"), a specialist  in outsourced engineering services and technology platforms for the video games industry and other virtual simulation applications, from its Founder and President, Andrew Tosh (the "Seller").
 
The acquisition of GameSim marks Keywords Studio's first step into the market for software engineering services. It is in line with its strategy of growing both organically and by acquisition to extend the Group's client base, market penetration or service lines, where the Group can leverage its existing expertise, multi-service platform, scale and global reach to generate synergies.
 
Based in Orlando, Florida, GameSim employs over 30 software engineers and artists and has a range of cutting edge, proprietary technology platforms which are integrated with client processes to develop video games and visually simulate environments for military and urban planning applications.  GameSim's founder Andrew Tosh is a software engineer who worked in the military simulation industry and then at Electronic Arts before starting GameSim in 2008. GameSim engineers and artists work on long running co-development projects as well as short turnaround engagements for their clients, which include EA, Zynga, and United States Department of Defense projects. GameSim achieved $4.1m in revenue for the year ended 31 December 2016. Andrew Tosh, along with the rest of the GameSim team, will remain in the Group.
 
Under the terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first year, Keywords Studios is paying the Seller a total of $4.76m for 100% of GameSim. This is being satisfied by $3.2m in cash, funded from the Group's existing resources, with the remainder satisfied by the issue of 151,725 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a one-year lock in period.
 
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 151,725 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 22 May 2017. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 55,787,994 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 55,787,994 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.
 
Keywords intends to grow further in the video games software engineering services market through acquisition and organic growth to build a seventh service line of scale, following in the path of its fast-growing art services business.
 
Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords Studios, commented:
"The acquisition of GameSim is an entry point into outsourced software engineering services and is highly complementary to our existing essential services to game developers and publishers around the world. Our intention is to use this as a platform from which to build a market leading engineering capability and we continue to review a number of compelling acquisition opportunities in this specialist and large, yet fragmented market.
"Providing the group with an additional avenue to growth, outsourced software engineering services are used by game developers in several ways such as: extensions to their own in-house engineering teams; to undertake projects to port developed games from one hardware platform to another; "hit squads" to solve complex problems; or for complete game development.  These engineering services combine particularly strongly with our art creation services but are also synergistic with our localisation and testing businesses in which game development skills can be deployed to increase automation and to integrate our services more directly with client side systems and processes. The market for game software development is growing with the increase in-game content, as games on consoles, social media, PCs, tablets and smart phones get bigger and richer in their definition and as games continue to move from a product to a services model requiring continuous content development, and as games developers and publishers outsource a greater proportion of this activity.
"We look forward to welcoming GameSim's highly talented teams to the fast growing Keywords group and to continuing to build upon its strong brand, leveraging Keywords' unparalleled geographic footprint, client relationships and financial strength to support its growth."
Andrew Tosh, Founder and President of GameSim, commented:
"It is exciting for GameSim to enter a new chapter as Keywords' first engineering studio. GameSim will take advantage of synergies with other Keywords studios to better service our customers in the video gaming, military simulation & training, and geospatial visualisation industries."