Nordeus, One of the Most Successful Local IT Companies, Acquired by US Company Take-Two Interactive for up to USD 378 Million

Serbian Nordeus, the gaming company behind one of the most successful video games, and possibly one of the most successful Serbian products, Top Eleven, has announced that it has been acquired by Take-Two Interactive, one of the biggest gaming companies, which owns Rockstar Games and 2K and the development of some of the most prominent game series in the industry, such as Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead, Bioschock and many others, Startit reports.

As announced on the Take Two portal, the company has acquired privately-held Nordeus for up to USD 378 million. The upfront price of USD 225 million is comprised of cash and USD 90 million in newly issued shares of Take-Two common stock. In a statement on Businesswire, it is said that the cash portion of the purchase price is subject to standard closing adjustments and that the agreement also includes earn-out consideration.

– Over the decades, I have met all the prominent people in the industry, especially in the mobile segment. I believe that we match Take-Two the best when it comes to company culture. I believe that we have a lot in common and that it will be easy for both to continue developing within the partnership – stated the CEO of Nordeus, Branko Milutinovic.

Nordeus believes that a partnership with a large company like Take-Two will enable them to realize their full potential and to contribute to the development of the Serbian gaming ecosystem to a greater extent.

– I believe that, together with Take-Two, we can add energy to the local ecosystem and achieve even greater things. I believe that the results will be great. I am proud of my role in it, because we have truly managed to have a positive impact on a large number of people – Milutinovic noted.

Nordeus was founded in 2010 and very quickly started realizing considerable growth. Today, it is one of the most successful companies in Serbian gaming and probably one of the most successful companies in Serbia. From the peak success in the first years of Top Eleven, the title has gone through a range of changes, following the industry trends, and recently it placed fifth in a report on the most profitable soccer games. In addition to Top Eleven, the company has launched another soccer game, as well as an epic strategy game.

Nordeus has an international reputation. Among other things, in 2011, it won the award as the best European gaming startup. In Serbia, it is widely considered a desirable employer and has certainly played a great role in inspiring numerous local professionals and entrepreneurs to realize that they can achieve a great success in the world market from Serbia.

In addition to their business activities, they’ve also had numerous socially responsible activities, such as humanitarian campaigns, the recently launched foundation and the co-founding of the Serbian Gaming Association (SGA) and the Digital Serbia Initiative (DSI).

Take-Two became interested in Nordeus back in 2014, and the interest didn’t drop even following an unsuccessful talk about the acquisition. As said, Top Eleven has existed for 10 years and continues to grow, just like Nordeus itself, so the company believed that the time was right for a new attempt.

– I think in M&A and deal making, particularly in mobile free to play where the fortunes of the business change from month to month, the thing you always want to be mindful of in acquisitions is catching a falling knife – Buying a business that’s trending downward. And here, it’s quite the opposite. This business is growing month over month. So I think our timing is impeccable – said Michael Worosz, Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy and Independent Publishing for Take-Two.

Nordeus is the third mobile game publisher to be bought by Take-Two, following Social Point and Playdots. The company says that this is an opportunity for the fragmented market of F2P games to consolidate and realize Serbia’s full game-developing potential.

More information about the acquisition can be found at MCVuk. For the time being, there will be no changes in the way the company operates, and the team of 180 employees will continue working under the same management.

This is one of the most important acquisitions of this type in the Serbian IT industry, and of the most recent ones, it can be compared to Nutanix’ acquisition of Frame, Playrix’ acquisition of Eipix, the purchase of 3lateral by Epic Games and the purchase of Mad Hat Games by the Swedish Embracer Group.

Nordeus d.o.o. Beograd

Nordeus

Take Two Interactive

Branko Milutinović

Michael Worosz

Rockstar Games

2K

Social Point

Playdots

Top Eleven

Grand Theft Auto

Red Dead

Bioshock

gaming

video games

Serbian Gaming Association

SGA

Digital Serbia Initiative

DSI