PLAYSTUDIOS TO BECOME THE FIRST PUBLICLY LISTED MOBILE GAMES COMPANY OFFERING PLAYERS REAL-WORLD REWARDS
One-of-a-kind playAWARDS Loyalty Platform drives growth in its existing portfolio of games, de-risks new game launches, and supports consolidation
Capitalized to act on strategically compelling acquisitions and growth opportunities
Institutional Investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, ClearBridge Investments, and Neuberger Berman Funds, together with MGM Resorts International, Commit to an Upsized $250 Million Common Equity PIPE
Transaction Values PLAYSTUDIOS at Approximately $1.1 Billion
PLAYSTUDIOS Founder & CEO Andrew Pascal to Continue Leading the Company
Investor Call Scheduled for Tuesday February 2, 2021 at 8:30 AM EST
LAS VEGAS, Nevada. / MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., February 1, 2021 – PLAYSTUDIOS, Inc. (“PLAYSTUDIOS” or the “Company”), an award-winning developer of free-to-play casual games for mobile and social platforms that offer real-world rewards to loyal players, and Acies Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ACAC) (“Acies”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement that will result in PLAYSTUDIOS becoming a publicly listed company. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named PLAYSTUDIOS and remain listed on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol “MYPS.”
PLAYSTUDIOS has developed a portfolio of beautifully designed, top-ranked games that have attracted a loyal following due, in part, to the company’s unmatched playAWARDS Loyalty Program. The program lets players earn real-world rewards from a curated collection of over 80 partners and 275 entertainment, retail, travel, leisure, and gaming brands. To date, the PLAYSTUDIOS community has used its in-app loyalty points to purchase over 10 million rewards with a retail value of nearly $500 million. The Company has been named a Top Developer by App Annie, the gaming industry’s leader in app analytics and aggregated app performance data.
Acies’ management team is led by Chairman Jim Murren, formerly Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, and Co-Chief Executive Officers Dan Fetters and Edward King, formerly Managing Directors at Morgan Stanley. PLAYSTUDIOS is led by Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Pascal, who will continue to lead the combined company along with his current founder-led management team. Mr. Pascal will remain a significant equity participant in the Company.
“From our inception, we set out to create wonderfully compelling games that were free-to-play and offered real-world rewards,” said Mr. Pascal. “We’ve now demonstrated the positive, long-term impact of this value proposition with our current portfolio of apps, and we’re poised to carry that success into new products and new game genres. Becoming a public company and securing the resources and support of key institutional investors will enable us to accelerate our growth as we launch new products, pursue new acquisition opportunities, and scale up our unique playAWARDS loyalty program.”
“Within today’s vast and growing games market, PLAYSTUDIOS is unique in offering their audience the opportunity to play for fun and earn for real. They know how to make engaging and enduring games, and stand apart in having harnessed the power of a robust and full-featured loyalty program,” said Mr. Murren, Chairman of Acies. “The focus is now to take PLAYSTUDIOS platform and super-charge its growth. We have abundant initiatives, including targeted, strategic acquisitions; an expansion of the rewards program into new categories such as sports entertainment; and the exploration of opening the playAWARDS platform under a loyalty-as-a-service model. We look forward to leveraging Acies’ M&A knowledge and broad relationships for the benefit of PLAYSTUDIOS and its shareholders.”
PLAYSTUDIOS Highlights
Proprietary playAWARDS Loyalty Program
One-of-a-kind loyalty program elevates key game performance metrics
Extends retention
Drives more frequent engagement
Drives increased monetization
Portfolio of Franchise Games
Collection of game brands with evergreen characteristics
Imminent expansion into casual and RPG game genres
Massive Market Opportunity
$152 billion+ estimated global gaming market (Statista, IBISWorld)
Global Network of Award Partners
4 continents, 17 countries, 84 brands, 275 partners
10+ million rewards purchased to-date, valued at nearly $500 million
Highly Attractive Financial Profile
Compelling key performance indicators across average revenue per daily user, player monetization, and daily payer growth
22% CAGR revenues 2017-2019A, projected 27% CAGR revenues 2020-2022E
46% CAGR Adjusted EBITDA 2017-2019A, projected 67% CAGR Adjusted EBITDA 2020-2022E
Key Transaction Terms
The transaction implies an enterprise valuation for PLAYSTUDIOS of $1.1 billion, or 2.5x projected 2022 revenue of $435 million or 12.3x projected 2022 pro forma Adjusted EBITDA of $90 million. Consideration to PLAYSTUDIOS will comprise at least 89.1 million shares of ACAC common stock and up to $150 million in cash. In addition, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, ClearBridge Investments, Neuberger Berman Funds, and MGM Resorts International are leading participants in the $250 million PIPE, at a price of $10.00 per share of common stock of Acies immediately prior to the closing of the transaction.
After giving effect to the transaction, the company is expected to have approximately $290 million of cash and a public equity currency to accelerate PLAYSTUDIOS’ growth initiatives, which include substantially expanding product development and acquisitions of other gaming and related companies. Upon the closing of the transaction, and assuming none of Acies public stockholders elect to redeem their shares, existing PLAYSTUDIOS shareholders are expected to own 64% of the combined company, the Acies sponsors are expected to own 3% of the combined company, PIPE participants are expected to own 18% of the combined company, and public stockholders are expected to own 15% of the combined company.
The boards of directors of each of Acies and PLAYSTUDIOS have approved the transaction. The transaction will require the approval of the stockholders of Acies, and is subject to other customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021.
Advisors
J.P. Morgan and LionTree Advisors are acting as financial advisors to PLAYSTUDIOS and Davis Polk is acting as legal advisor to the company. Morgan Stanley is acting as capital markets advisor to Acies Acquisition Corp., and Latham & Watkins LLP is acting as legal advisor to Acies. J.P. Morgan, LionTree Advisors, Morgan Stanley, and Oppenheimer & Co. are acting as placement agents for the PIPE.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Investors may listen to a pre-recorded call discussing the proposed business combination on February 2, 2021 at 8:30 am EST. The call may be accessed by dialing 1 (877) 407-3982 for domestic callers or 1 (201) 493-6780 for international callers. Once connected with the operator, please ask to join the “PLAYSTUDIOS and Acies Acquisition Corp. Business Combination Announcement Conference Call.”
A replay of the call will also be available at 11:30 am EST to 11:59 pm EST on February 16, 2021. To access the replay, the domestic toll-free access number is 1 (844) 512-2921 and participants should provide the conference ID of “13716108”.
Please visit the Investor Info section of PLAYSTUDIOS’ website https://playstudios.com to access the webcast.
About PLAYSTUDIOS
PLAYSTUDIOS is the developer and operator of award-winning free-to-play casual games for mobile and social platforms. Its collection of original and published titles is powered by the company’s groundbreaking playAWARDS loyalty marketing platform, which enables players to earn real-world rewards from a portfolio of global entertainment, retail, technology, travel, leisure, and gaming brands across 15 countries and four continents. Founded by a team of veteran hospitality, technology, and gaming entrepreneurs, PLAYSTUDIOS brings together the best of mobile gaming with an innovative loyalty platform in order to provide its players with an unequaled entertainment experience and its partners with actionable business insights.
About Acies Acquisition Corp.
Acies Acquisition Corp. is a newly organized blank check company, formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company was established in October 2020 to focus on identifying a business combination target within the live, location-based and mobile experiential entertainment industries. To learn more about Acies, visit https://aciesacq.com
https://playstudios.com/press/playstudios-to-become-the-first-publicly-listed-mobile-games-company-offering-players-real-world-rewards/
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