Nazara Technologies IPO: Opens today; find key details before subscribing

Nazara Technologies IPO: Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies initial public offering (IPO) will open for subscription today, i.e. Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The gaming and sports media platform company has set a price band of Rs 1,100-1,101 a share for the issue.

The company seeks to raise up to Rs 582.7 crore through the public offer. The public issue closes on Friday, March 19, 2021.

The issue comprises an offer for sale (OFS) of 52,94,392 equity shares by promoters and other shareholders. Nazara Technologies Ltd. will not receive any proceeds from the offer.

The company has reserved up to Rs 2 crore worth of shares for its employees. Eligible employees could get these shares at a discount of 10 per cent to the offer price, i.e. Rs 110 per share.

Investors can put in a minimum bid for 13 equity shares and multiples of 13 equity shares thereafter, which translates to a minimum application size of Rs 14,313 at a higher price band.

The company said that the listing of equity shares will enhance its brand name and provide liquidity to the existing shareholders. Post-IPO, the promoters' shareholding will fall to 20.7 per cent from 23 per cent.

ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, Jefferies India Private Limited and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) are the book running lead managers to the offer. The equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

Besides, the anchor book opened for a day on March 16, 2021, and the company has said that it has raised Rs 261.3 crore by allotting 23.73 lakh equity shares to 43 anchor investors at Rs 1,101 per share. The anchor investors include the Government of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity, Nomura, Goldman Sach, SBI MF, HDFC MF, ICICI Prudential, Birla Sun Life and Nippon India among others.

Nazara Technologies Limited is a leading India based diversified gaming and sports media platform with a presence across the interactive gaming, eSports and gamified early learning ecosystems (Source: F&S Report). Some of its key products include World Cricket Championship and CarromClash in mobile games, Kiddopia in gamified early learning, Sportskeeda in eSports and eSports media etc. Its diversified offerings, leadership in eSports and sports simulation and geographical reach across India, Middle East, Africa and North America, provide a strong foundation on which it can scale new products.

The company is popularly known for its games on World Cricket Championship, Chhota Bheem and Motu Patlu series.

It has focused on growing a profitable business, with an emphasis on self-sustainability rather than relying on external investments as a result of which it has historically remained EBIDTA positive and generated sufficient cash flows from its operations.

The company develops content in India for the Indian as well as the global audience, allowing it to achieve scale. Its user base across offerings spanned 58 countries as of December 31, 2020. Its average Monthly Active Users (MAUs) across its sports simulation games for FY 2020 were 13.90 million, and in the nine months ended December 31, 2020, were 13.14 million.

Its acquisition of Paper Boat Apps and Halaplay Technologies has provided it with an entry into gamified early learning and skill-based, fantasy gaming.

In addition to a strong portfolio of offerings, its growth is also driven by the strong tailwinds for the segment with a further acceleration in demand for the content in 2020 on account of COVID-19.