nDreams continues its progress with acquisition

RNS Number : 2114K

Mercia Asset Management PLC

20 December 2022

 

RNS Reach

20 December 2022

Mercia Asset Management PLC

("Mercia", the "Group" or the "Company")

nDreams continues its progress with first acquisition

Mercia Asset Management PLC (AIM: MERC), the proactive, regionally focused specialist asset manager with c.£1.4billion of assets under management, is pleased to announce that nDreams Limited ("nDreams") has acquired Brighton-based Near Light Limited ("Near Light").

Founded in 2016, Near Light is a long-term partner of nDreams and a virtual reality ("VR") and augmented reality ("AR") game development studio. Near Light developed the nDreams-published Perfect and Shooty Fruity VR titles, in addition to recently pioneering an AR experience for one of the world's leading toy brands.

nDreams is currently Mercia's largest direct investment by fair value, and continues to see strong growth, with revenue for its current financial year on track to grow by c.70 per cent. Near Light is nDreams' first acquisition as it seeks to accelerate its ability to scale the delivery of top-class games, to meet growing demand.

Following the £20.0million investment from Aonic AB in March 2022, nDreams has significantly grown its workforce and capabilities, expanding its headcount from c.100 at the beginning of 2021, to over 180 currently. With the acquisition of Near Light, nDreams will have c.200 team members, 150 of whom are developers, working across four studios on a number of projects, including the recently announced Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality and Meta, that launches in 2023. Near Light is currently developing an unannounced VR title to be published by nDreams.

Julian Viggars, CIO of Mercia Asset Management and nDreams' Board Director, commented: "2022 has been a significant year for nDreams as it continues to firmly establish itself as one of the world's leading VR studios. The acquisition of Near Light is another positive development as it looks to scale its world class development capability, to fulfil a rapidly growing order book. We remain hugely excited by the potential of the VR market, particularly as nDreams already has partnerships with the key VR headset providers."

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For further information, please contact:

Mercia Asset Management PLC Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer www.mercia.co.uk	[phone]
Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Simon Bridges, Emma Gabriel
Singer Capital Markets (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Harry Gooden, James Moat
FTI Consulting	[phone]
Tom Blackwell, Immy Ransom
[e-mail]

About Mercia Asset Management PLC

Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of venture, private equity, debt and proprietary capital: the Group's 'Complete Connected Capital'. The Group initially nurtures businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.

The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow.

Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the EPIC "MERC".

 

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