Teen Patti Creator Moonfrog Labs Acquired By Stillfront Group On Tuesday
In a major development across the Indian gaming sector, Sweden-based free-to-play gaming studios Stillfront Group have announced its acquisition of Bengaluru-based Moonfrog Labs Private Limited which owns some of the renowned products like Teen Patti Gold, Ludo Club, Rummy Gold among others.
Just after reports came out that Mobile Premier League secured a huge funding round from the likes of Composite Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Telstra Ventures, apart from the few existing investors, Stillfront Group announced the acquisition of Moonfrog. The take over will be conducted in four tranches.
Stillfront’s CEO Jörgen Larsson said in a press statement that his company will acquire 91% stake in Moonfrog Labs for a consideration of $90 Mn on a cash deal. The remaining 9% stakes will be acquired through a maximum of three additional tranches which will be jointly referred to as “Deferred Tranches”.
“With the acquisition of Moonfrog, Stillfront adds a highly profitable and successful studio to the group and expands our geographic footprint to the Indian subcontinent, a strategic move into one of the fastest-growing mobile game markets worldwide,” Stillfront’s CEO Jörgen Larsson said in a press statement, reported Inc42 Plus.
Tanay Tayal, Ankit Jain, Kumar Puspesh, Oliver Jones, and Dimpalkumar Maisuriya were the five brains behind Moonfrog Labs’ establishment in 2013. And back in 2015, they combinedly generated $15 Mn funding in Series A round from Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital to carve its own niche in the market. Stillfront will be heading the portfolio of popular games on the platform but by retaining the major talent group from the previous owners to build upon.
As a matter of fact, the great interest shown by the foreign conglomerates in the Indian gaming industry is not a surprise. During the lockdown, there was a gradual rise of Indian mobile gaming market, which, as reported by Inc42 Plus, went up to $90 Bn in FY2020 from $62 Bn in FY2019. With a user base of 326 Mn, India is expected to be among the top five markets for mobile gaming in the next five years.
