New Century Cruise to Acquire Social and Mobile Games Business Playtika
New Century Cruise, 9/28/16
Chongqing-based cruise ship operator New Century Cruise (002558.SZ), the shell company of online game developer and operator Giant Interactive, has announced a plan to acquire all of the class A shares of Alpha Frontier, the parent company of leisure and social gaming company Playtika Holding Corp., through a combination of privately issued stock and cash. Alpha Frontier's class A shares are currently held by thirteen companies, including Chongqing Bacui Business Information Consulting, Chongqing Jiezi Business Information Consulting, and Shanghai Hony Chuangling Investment. The cost of the transaction has not been determined yet.
If the acquisition is completed, it will allow Century Cruise both to significantly increase its business scale and to use Alpha Frontier as a platform for overseas gaming-related mergers and acquisitions, helping Century Cruise expand its global gaming footprint.
Editor's Note: In May this year Chinese online game developer and operator Giant Interactive completed a back door listing via New Century Cruise. Two months later, in July, a Chinese consortium comprised of the 13 companies mentioned above, along with New Century Cruise subsidiary Giant Investment (HK) Limited, announced it had entered into a definitive agreement with American gaming corporation Caesars Interactive Entertainment ("CIE") to acquire CIE's social and mobile games business Playtika in an all-cash deal for USD 4.4 bln. For more background on this topic, please see "Giant Interactive Completes Backdoor Listing via New Century Cruise" MD 05/24/16 issue, and Update: Chinese Consortium Buys Caesars' Online Game Unit for USD 4.4 Bln, MD 7/30/16 issue.
Keywords: Alpha Frontier Playtika Giant Interactive Internet Giant Investment New Century Cruise 002558.SZ online gaming M&A social game mobile gaming
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