London-listed Keywords Studios accepts £2.1bn private equity bid

EQT had previously made four unsolicited proposals for Keywords, all of which were rejected by the company’s board

Videogame developer Keywords Studios has accepted an offer of more than £2bn for its takeover by EQT today, dealing another blow to the London Stock Exchange after a torrent of takeovers  in recent months.

The Dublin-based firm, which is one of the biggest companies on London’s junior AIM market, will be paid 2,450 pence in cash per share – approximately £2.1bn on a fully diluted basis.

Keywords Studios said it was “pleased” to have reached an agreement with the Swedish private equity giant after months of negotiations and extended deadlines.

In a statement published today Keywords said: “The Keywords Studios Directors, who have been so advised by Deutsche Numis and Robey Warshaw as to the financial terms of the Acquisition, consider the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable.

“The acquisition values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Keywords Studios at approximately £2.1bn on a fully diluted basis, and implies an enterprise value of approximately £2.2bn and a multiple of approximately 15.9 times Keywords Studios’ adjusted EBITDA for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2023 of £139m.”

EQT had previously made four unsolicited proposals for Keywords, all of which were rejected by the company’s board. The final figure represents a significant increase from the initial proposal, it said previously.

Dublin-based Keywords has swelled to become one of the biggest companies on the AIM market by providing services to some of the world’s biggest video games, including Assassin’s Creed and Fortnite.