Keywords Studios raises funds for yet more buys

Dublin-based computer game content provider Keywords Studios has added two further acquisitions to its rapidly growing arsenal of subsidiaries and has agreed a new €105m credit facility to fund further takeover opportunities, writes Geoff Percival.

The company, which provides design, sound and cultural localisation services for many of the world’s top console game manufacturers including Capcom, Sony and Bethesda, said the new financing will support further organic and acquisitive growth this year and that its acquisition pipeline remains “healthy”.

Keywords’ latest annual results show it generated €151.4m in revenue last year, up by 57% on 2016 levels.

Adjusted pre-tax profits increased by 55% to €23m and the company closed the year in a net cash position of €11.1m.

Keywords made 11 acquisitions last year and yesterday announced two more — London-based video game soundtracking companies Laced Music and Cord Worldwide. They follow on from the Dublin company’s purchase of Sao Paulo-based audio studio Maximal Studio for a maximum price of €500,000 last month.

Cord and Laced Music had combined revenues of €6.5m last year, and Keywords is paying, on aggregate, nearly €3.9m in a cash and share deal.

“Video game publishers are major buyers of specifically composed or licensed music for use in games, are increasingly focused on using music assets... and are becoming more sophisticated about how they buy and manage their music assets,” said Keywords’ chief executive Andrew Day.