Nazara Technologies chief operating officer Sudhir Kamath will step down on April 1, after a two-and-a-half year stint, the diversified gaming and sports media company said on March 12.
Kamath is leaving the firm to relocate to his hometown Delhi and spend more time with his family, the company said.
"The last two and half years have been a great experience for me, with a chance to learn from you, our directors, and other colleagues at the group level as well as our subsidiaries. I hope I have also been able to help the company towards its ambitious growth targets" Kamath said in a letter to Nazara founder Nitish Mittersain.
This development comes after Nazara Technologies consolidated its real-money gaming (RMG) offerings under its associate firm Moonshine Technology, the parent firm of online poker platform PokerBaazi.
On March 7, the country's only publicly listed gaming company announced the sale of its 94.85 percent stake in OpenPlay Technologies, which runs the popular rummy platform Classic Rummy, to Moonshine through a share swap transaction valued at Rs 104.33 crore.
Following this, OpenPlay will become a subsidiary of Moonshine, in which Nazara currently holds a 46.07 percent stake. Moonshine said it will integrate OpenPlay’s rummy platform into its existing rummy offerings to drive growth in the segment.
Over the past year, Nazara has also taken full ownership in its subsidiaries Paper Boat Apps, which owns the gamified learning app Kiddopia, and Nextwave Multimedia, a mobile gaming studio, by acquiring their remaining stakes.
These deals are part of Nazara's new operating model implemented last year, which aims to bring the core gaming business into the parent entity. The move is expected to increase the parent firm's revenue and free cash flow, which can then be deployed for both organic and inorganic growth.
Kamat joined as COO of Nazara Technologies in October 2022, amid a leadership transition at one of India's oldest gaming companies. Mittersain was returning as CEO after Manish Agarwal stepped down following a nearly seven-and-a-half-year stint.
Before joining Nazara, he had co-founded Sparskills Technologies which developed the online poker platform 9stacks. Kamat has also had stints at companies such as McKinsey, Sun Group Private Equity, and Suntera Energy.
He has over 20 years of experience in strategy consulting, private equity investing, and operations, during which he has also managed strategy, asset acquisitions and exits, and regulatory matters.
In January, Nazara announced that it is raising Rs 495 crore through a preferential equity issue to Axana Estates LLP, led by Plutus Wealth management founder Arpit Khandelwal and CaratLane co-founder Mithun Sacheti. This followed the company's Rs 855-crore funding round from a slew of new and existing investors including SBI Mutual Fund in November 2024.
The deal also triggered an open offer through which Axana Estates, Plutus Wealth Management, and Junomoneta Finsol (an associate firm of Plutus Wealth) are seeking to acquire an additional 26 percent stake in the company for a total consideration of Rs 2,382.35 crore.
As a result of this transaction, these firms will become promoters of the company alongside the existing promoters and promoter group.
Nazara Technologies stated that it will continue to operate independently under Mittersain as joint managing director and chief executive and Vikash Mittersain as chairman and managing director.
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