Australia's iCandy to acquire 51% of Singtel-backed Storms for A$8m in shares

ICANDY Interactive is acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Singapore-based gaming startup Storms for an initial consideration of A$8 million (S$7.7 million), which will be fully satisfied in new shares of the Australia-listed company.

In a press statement on Tuesday (Feb 8), the digital entertainment company said existing shareholders of Storms will also have a put option to sell their remaining 49 per cent interest of the company to iCandy. Payment will also be settled via the issuance of new iCandy shares.

Storms develops and publishes casual and hyper-casual games through mobile application platforms, while tapping into a business-to-business model that leverages product offerings of super-apps and telcos.

Its investors comprise telecommunications companies (telcos) Singtel, Thailand's AIS and South Korea's SK Telecom, who established the startup in March 2020.

According to iCandy, the management teams of Storms and the 3 telcos are of the view that the share swap with iCandy will allow Storms to collaborate and advance iCandy's goal of developing the gaming metaverse.

For the financial period ending Dec 31, 2021, Storms reported an estimated revenue of S$4.1 million, up 14 times from its FY2020 topline. Its cash and cash equivalents stood at S$7.2 million as at end-2021.

iCandy believes its acquisition will allow the group to leverage its distribution network to further target several markets in Asia Pacific.

In the group's view, the transaction will place it in a better position to extend the reach of its portfolio of projects by leveraging Storms' "expansive games publishing network in the fastest-growing market for gaming experiences".

Another key benefit of the acquisition includes access to Storms' network of telcos and super apps - a term for multi-purpose mobile apps that offer multiple features.

With the ability to leverage the startup's network on the games publishing front, iCandy said this can improve its monetisation mechanisms. It also believes the acquisition will provide additional growth opportunities for its recently-acquired gaming platform and games developer, NextGamer.

"Storms' competencies and partnerships with large telcos will allow iCandy to deliver Web 3.0 gaming to its large tech-savvy audiences, bringing the company closer to its goal of developing and publishing games for the metaverse," added the company.

In view of iCandy's metaverse gaming ambition, Singtel group chief corporate officer Lim Cheng Cheng said the partnership with iCandy will further Singtel's collective strategy to better serve its customers with "unique and engaging content". Lim is also chairman of Storms' board.

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