Plutus Wealth, associates buy Rs 500 crore shares in Nazara Technologies from WestBridge

Gaming firm Nazara Technologies Ltd on Tuesday said Plutus Wealth Management LLP and its associates have acquired shares worth over Rs 500 crore of the company from WestBridge.

Plutus Wealth Management LLP & its associates have acquired shares worth over Rs 500 crore in Nazara from WestBridge Ventures II Investment Holdings, a fund managed by WestBridge Capital in a secondary transaction between the parties, a statement said.

"This transaction marks the complete exit from Nazara by WestBridge Ventures, which had been an early investor in Nazara since 2005," it added.

WestBridge Ventures, which had invested about Rs 22.6 crore cumulatively in Nazara, has received significant returns. Apart from the latest transaction, WestBridge had sold shares to IIFL Special Opportunities Fund and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who had invested Rs 327 crore and Rs 182 crore, respectively, in Nazara.

"We believe gaming will be a prominent form of entertainment and will do well in the next decade. We believe that Nazara is well-placed to leverage on the vast available opportunity. We are excited to begin our long-term journey with their goal and vision," Plutus Wealth Managing Partner Arpit Khandelwal said.

Nazara Technologies Founder and MD Nitish Mittersain said creating value for all stakeholders, including investors, has always been very important for Nazara.

"We are excited to onboard Plutus as a long term investor in Nazara...I am glad that we have been able to deliver a great return to WestBridge who backed us early on in 2005," he added.

Nazara has undertaken investments and acquisitions in various gaming categories, including esports, edutainment, infotainment, fantasy sports, multiplayer games like carrom and mobile cricket games, among others to strengthen its position in the gaming and sports media space.

The company owns IPs, including WCC and CarromClash in mobile games, Kiddopia in gamified early learning, NODWIN and Sportskeeda in esports and esports media, and Halaplay and Qunami in skill-based, fantasy and trivia games.