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Jamdat Acquires Blue Lava, Tetris Wireless License
by David Jenkins
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April 21, 2005
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Officials from mobile publisher Jamdat have announced that the company has acquired Hawaiian mobile developer Blue Lava Wireless for approximately $137 million. As part of the acquisition Jamdat, gains an exclusive 15 year worldwide license to develop mobile based Tetris games.
Under the terms of the agreement, Jamdat will pay approximately $137 million (excluding payment of approximately $3.7 million for net cash and accounts receivable), consisting of $60 million in cash and 4.05 million shares of Jamdat stock at closing.
Blue Lava Wireless is based in Honolulu, Hawaii and was founded by Henk Rogers, who was instrumental in bringing Tetris to the West during the late 1980s with his company Bullet Proof Software, when it became a crucial title for Nintendo's Game Boy in its formative years. Rogers was also the co-founder of master license-holder firm The Tetris Company with Tetris creator Alexey Pazhitnov - Rogers' Blue Planet Software Inc. currently holds the exclusive business licensing rights to Tetris.
Under the terms of this deal, Blue Lava Wireless' 30 full-time and 20 part-time employees will now become employees of Jamdat, with the studio set to remain in Hawaii, and expansion of personnel likely.
Mitch Lasky, chairman and chief executive officer of Jamdat, commented: "The combination of Jamdat and Blue Lava will join two strong and profitable companies resulting in significant earnings scale and cash flow potential."
He continued: "There is significant strategic value in this acquisition. Tetris is a killer wireless gaming application and together with our existing content portfolio, we believe we will have an unmatched product offering for carriers and consumers. The acquisition will also enhance Jamdat's global distribution strength, and increase our market share in Europe and Asia."
Jamdat also announced that it expects Q1 revenues for 2005 to be approximately $15 million – a 30 percent increase over the same period in 2004 and above its previous estimate of $14.1 million. The acquisition of Blue Lava and the Tetris license is also expected to add to earnings in 2005. The company’s final financial results are due to be reported on May 5th.
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