Zeus acted as Rule 3 Adviser, Joint Financial Adviser, Nominated Adviser & Broker to Sumo Group on the £919m takeover by Tencent Holdings

Sumo Group’s businesses provide acclaimed development, design and publishing services to the video games and entertainment industries from studios in the UK, India, Canada, the US, and Poland. The Company operates four divisions: Sumo Digital, focused on AAA game work for hire development, operating from five UK-based studios and one India-based studio; Pipeworks, a US and Canada based studio that which provides development services; Atomhawk, an award-winning visual design company servicing the games, film, and visual effects industries and operates from the UK and Canada; and Secret Mode, a video games publisher, focused on publishing titles developed within Sumo Group and by independent developers.

Sumo Group joins listed Chinese group Tencent, the largest gaming group globally by revenues. Tencent has been a supportive shareholder of Sumo since it acquired a strategic holding in November 2019. Tencent believes a combination with Sumo can drive Sumo’s growth and fulfil its longer-term visions with support from Tencent’s strategic resources.

Zeus is proud to have advised Sumo as their Nominated Adviser and Broker since the Company was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2017 at a price of 100 pence per share, which gave the Sumo Group a market capitalisation of £145 million. In that time, Sumo grew from 483 employees to 1,203, both organically and through seven acquisitions, including the $99.5m acquisition of US-based Pipeworks Studios. The offer of 513 pence per share was at a 413% premium to the IPO price and a 43% premium to the close price on the last business day before the offer announcement. The transaction represents an excellent outcome for Tencent, Sumo and existing shareholders.

Members of the Zeus team included: Benjamin Robertson (ECM); and Richard Darlington, Andrew Jones, Tremayne Ducker, Nick Cowles, Matt Hogg and Matt Wong (Investment Banking).

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