Draper Esprit : Zynga Inc enters into agreement to acquire Peak

Draper Esprit congratulates Peak, Earlybird, and Zynga on the announcement made by Zynga on the agreement to acquire Istanbul-based mobile games developer Peak for $1.8 billion, comprised of approx. $900 million in cash and approx. $900 million of Zynga common stock. The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2020.

In January 2019, Draper Esprit announced that it had furthered its strategic partnership with Earlybird Digital West ('Earlybird'), a German Venture Capital firm with a focus on early stage investments in Europe, by acquiring a 27% interest in Earlybird's EB IV fund for approx. €63 million (approx. £55 million).

As a result of this investment in the EB IV fund, Draper Esprit acquired underlying holdings in nine high growth technology companies including Istanbul-headquartered games developer Peak.

Commenting on the transaction, Martin Davis, Draper Esprit Chief Executive Officer, said:

'The sale of Peak to Zynga represents a significant return on our original investment in the EB IV fund and underlines the benefits of delivering both primary and secondary transactions as part of our broader strategy. Deals of this nature typically encompass a shorter timescale from investment to realisation and allow us to invest at attractive entry points. This, combined with our evergreen balance sheet, means that the realised capital can be redeployed to ensure that Draper Esprit is able to continue to invest through the cycle.

'The fact that this transaction has been executed against the current backdrop of wider economic uncertainty is testament to the attractiveness of Peak's proposition, its strong recent trading performance following increased demand for its games and the immense potential the business has to build on its existing position as one of Europe's most attractive, high growth video games developers.

Adding more detail on Peak and Earlybird, Simon Cook, Draper Esprit Founding Partner, said:

'Peak's acquisition represents an exciting next chapter for Sidar and the incredible team at Peak and is testimony to what they have achieved on a global scale with a small team from Istanbul in a just few short years. True global entrepreneurs can be found everywhere today and we are excited to be able to help them achieve their ambitions. Our partners at Earlybird deserve all the recognition for leading the series A and B rounds and in spotting the potential for the Peak team almost 10 years ago. Our partnership with Earlybird continues to generate significant returns, enabling us to reinvest in the best European technology companies on behalf of our shareholders.

Read the RNShere.

Posted on 01 Jun 2020

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