ASX-listed iCandy acquires Singaporean gaming studio

Gerald Tock, CEO of Inzen Studio (L), and investor Masahiko Honma, at Pixel Studios.

Mobile games company iCandy Interactive, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:ICI), has fully acquired Singaporean game studio Inzen.

The transaction’s first tranche was worth 27,409,412 ordinary shares at A$0.136 per share. That’s slightly over US$2.8 million. If performance goals are met, iCandy will issue additional shares up to US$1,435,544* also at A$0.136 per share, according to a disclosure issued to iCandy’s shareholders.

Post-acquisition, Inzen’s co-Founder and CEO Gerald Tock will become iCandy’s group COO, responsible for strategy and partnerships. Inzen’s director, Masahiko Honma, will become a strategic advisor to the company.

These appointments will “help the group expand its capacity in incubation, investment, and publishing,” iCandy said in a press release today.

Honma is co-founder and general partner of Incubate Fund, an established Japanese VC with some notable investments in the gaming world, such as Gumi, which went public in 2014.

He became Inzen’s director when Incubate Fund led the startup’s series A round in 2014. It was Incubate Fund’s first game studio investment in Southeast Asia.

Crab War, a popular game in iCandy’s portfolio.

iCandy started out as part of venture builder Fatfish, before spinning out as a separate entity leading up to its IPO. It was formed out of Fatfish’s acquisition of Singapore’s Kensington Ventures and Malaysia’s AppXplore.

It specializes in casual mobile games. Popular titles are Crab War, Mobfish Hunters, and Caveboy’s Escape.

In addition to acquiring Inzen, iCandy also announced that Baidu Games, Incubate Fund, Hatcher, and Global Mobile Game Confederation have joined the group as institutional shareholders to facilitate strategic partnerships across Japan and China.

*Converted from Singapore Dollar. Rate: US$1 = S$1.39.