Aristocrat Buys Mobile Games Developer Plarium for $500 Million

Sydney-based gaming machine company Aristocrat Leisure will buy Israel-based social gaming company Plarium Global for $500 million, the companies announced Thursday.

The transaction is expected to complete by the end of December 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.

It will help Aristocrat expand its addressable market “into logical adjacent segments in the fast growing mobile gaming market," Aristocrat CEO and managing director Trevor Croker said in a press release Thursday.

Founded in 2009, Plarium, a privately owned free-to-play mobile, social and web-based game developer, employs over 1,200 people in five genre-specific studios. With offices in Israel, the Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S., the company is headquartered in Herzliya, around 10 miles north of Tel-Aviv.

After initially focusing on social games for social networks popular among Russian-speaking users including VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki, Plarium started translating its games into English in 2011.

Repeatedly ranked in the top 10 grossing Strategy games according to app analytics firm App Annie, “Vikings: War of Clans,” Plarium’s most popular game to date, has been downloaded more than 10 million times since its 2015 launch.

Traded on Australia's ASX, Aristocrat's shares gained nearly 5% this morning. Over the last 12 months, the company's share price rose 35%.

Plarium CEO and co-founder Avraham Shalel will continue to lead Plarium after the acquisition. Plarium’s management team have agreed to retention and deferred consideration arrangements.After initially focusing on social games for social networks popular among Russian-speaking users like VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki, Plarium started translating its games into English in 2011.

Repeatedly ranked in the top 10 grossing Strategy games according to app analytics firm App Annie, “Vikings: War of Clans,” Plarium’s most popular game to date, has been downloaded more than 10 million times since its 2015 launch.

Traded on Australia's ASX, Aristocrat's shares gained nearly 5% this morning. Over the last 12 months, the company's share price rose 35%.

Plarium CEO and co-founder Avraham Shalel will continue to lead Plarium after the acquisition. Plarium’s management team have agreed to retention and deferred consideration arrangements.