On Thursday, Nazara Technologies announced that  SBI Mutual Fund will be investing Rs 410 crore through the issue of equity shares. The funds will be invested through SBI Mutual Fund’s Multicap Fund Scheme, the Magnum Global Fund Scheme and the Technology Opportunities Fund Scheme.

The company announced that it’s offering 57,42,296 Equity Shares for Rs. 714/- with a total value of Rs 4,099,999,344/- (“Issue”) to SBI Mutual Fund. The shares are being offered through a private placement.

According to the company’s regulatory filing, SBI Multicap Fund will invest around Rs 200 crore, SBI Magnum Global Fund will invest Rs 120 crore and SBI Technology Opportunities Fund will invest Rs 90 crore.

The proposed issue of equity shares is locked in under Chapter V of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements), Regulations, 2018.

Shareholders of Nazara Technologies have given their consent to the company’s proposed capital increase to Rs 750 crore.

The company said that the new fund will be used to invest in the company’s funding needs and growth goals, like making strategic acquisitions and investing in different companies, bodies, entities, and gaming funds. They’ll also need to meet growth and funding needs based on business opportunities across the company’s subsidiaries, associations, and joint ventures, as well as through investments in subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures. Plus, they’ll need to cover capital expenditures, working capital, and debt obligations from time to time.

Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies, said: “Making India the gaming nation of the world has been a long-pursued dream for all of us at Nazara. India’s largest domestic mutual fund investing in Nazara is an important milestone for us in this two-decade-long journey. We are very excited to welcome SBI Mutual Fund as our investor.”

Last week Nazara Technologies announced that they will be giving up to 14 lakh equity shares with a nominal value of Rs 4 each to the companies owned by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamathi.

“We wish to inform you that the board … considered and approved Issuance of up to 14,00,560 shares of the company, for cash, at an issue price of Rs 714 per Equity Share aggregating to an amount of Rs 99,99,99,840 to M/s Kamath Associates (Partnership firm represented by its partners Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath) and M/s NKSquared (Partnership firm represented by its partners Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath),” the company said in a regulatory filing.

With this latest investment, Nikhil’s shareholding in the company has risen from 1% to approximately 3.5%.

Nikhil Kamath said in a statement after the announcement that he had invested in the company due to the company’s track record and the fact that it is one of the top online gaming companies in the domestic market. Kamath said that the online gaming industry in India is growing at a fast pace due to the growing popularity and adoption of smartphones in the country and the increasing number of youngsters in the country.

“The advent of technology around virtual reality and augmented reality is bound to make devices cheaper, more accessible, and create newer, broader pockets of opportunity. I feel in the days to come the penetration of gaming in India will be significantly higher than it is today,” he added.

Credit: Business Today