Nazara Technologies acquires 67% stake in Sportskeeda for Rs 44 cr

Mobile gaming company Nazara Technologies on Wednesday said it has acquired 67 per cent stake in sports news website Sportskeeda for a total consideration of Rs 44 crore. The deal has given an exit to Seed Fund, an early investor in Sportskeeda.

Nazara managing director Nitish Mittersain said his company had been considering the acquisition for sometime given the synergies between the platforms. Nazara operates fantasy sports platform Hala Play and e-sports leagues through Nodwin Gaming, two companies where it acquired majority stake recently.

Earlier, Nazara had partnered with Sportskeeda for content syndication. Post the acquisition, Sportskeeda will continue to operate as a separate brand, even as the companies will continue to identify areas of collaboration, Mittersain said.

Sportskeeda was started in 2009 by Porush Jain and Srinivas Cuddapah. In 2011, it raised $600,000 from Seed Fund. The company is managed by a team of 70-odd people based in Bengaluru.

Sportskeeda curates sports content through freelancers and in-house journalists in categories like football, cricket and wrestling, among others. Sportskeeda also recently launched an interactive offering where users can create virtual teams and play online contests.

“Nazara’s acquisition and investment into Sportskeeda is an important milestone in our journey. From our modest beginning as a multisport blog in 2009, we have become a one of a kind sports content platform,” said Jain, chief executive officer, Sportskeeda. 

“We have our eyes set on becoming the world’s largest multi-sport platform by leveraging Nazara’s geographical reach in the sports-crazy Middle East & Africa markets,” he added.

Nazara did not reveal the turnover that Sportskeeda made last year but said the new property will add 25 million monthly active users (MAUs) to Nazara’s network.

“We at Nazara are building platforms for fan engagement across all aspects of sports entertainment and we believe that this move will serve a triple play offering to the 100 million strong network through content, competition and community across all emerging markets,” said Mittersain of Nazara.