Stride expands into social gaming with £25m acquisition

Online bingo operator Stride Gaming today announced its expansion into the social gaming market through the acquisition of mobile-focused firm InfiApps for US$39.2m (£25m).

Stride will pay an initial consideration of $21.2m (£13.6m) in cash for the Israel-based mobile gaming company, as well as an additional earn out of up to $18m (£11.6m) based on InfiApps financial performance over the next two years.

The acquisition, which is expected to be finalised within a week, marks Stride’s first venture into the social gaming space and comes just two months after it raised £11.2m from its initial offering on London’s Alternative Investment Market – cash chief executive officer Eitan Boyd recently told eGaming Review would be used to fund acquisitions.

“The addition of InfiApps widens our current portfolio of products and brands and will significantly enhance and diversify our player offering internationally, as well as provide access to new users and new geographies generating significant operational leverage,” Boyd said.

“The acquisition is in line with our strategic objective of expansion through acquisitions, complementing our strong organic growth, and also affords stride Gaming a platform in which to take our online bingo product, over time, into the social gaming space,” he added.

The firm operates a number of bingo brands including Kitty Bingo, Lucky Pants Bingo, Bingo Extra, Jackpot Café, Jackpot Liner, King Jackpot, and also runs online casino brands Spin and Win and Magical Vegas.

Stride’s new asset InfiApps recorded a profit before tax for the 12 months ended 31 December 2014 of $2.3m and the bingo operator claims the acquisition will be immediately earnings enhancing.

InfiApps was founded in 2012 and its flagship product Slot Bonanza has been downloaded by 5.2m people and has over 500,000 users worldwide.