Atari set to acquire 82% of Thunderful Group AB, as Thunderful announce they’re “restructuring”
Even more game industry consolidation going on. Atari has entered into an agreement with Thunderful Group AB to acquire most of it. As per the press release Atari will pay around €4.5 million (~$5.1M USD) to own approximately 82% of the outstanding shares and votes of Thunderful becoming the major shareholder.
Wade Rosen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Atari, SA said about the deal: “This Transaction marks another important milestone in Atari’s development with the expansion of its publishing and development capabilities in the European region. Thunderful is recognized for publishing and developing critically acclaimed games, and with the announced transformation plan, as well as the quality and commitment of Thunderful’s teams, we are confident that Thunderful will be returning to a profitable growth path while helping to further develop Atari operations in Europe.”
Via globenewswire.
On the same day, Thunderful announced they’re “restructuring” to “promptly reduce the cost base with the aim of improving operating cash flow” as they continue to “generate negative cash flow” while building up a net debt of around SEK 85 million (~$8.8M USD). And yes, this does include job losses as they confirmed “workforce reductions within game development studios and the publishing business to adapt operations to the release pipeline, as well as workforce reductions within other group-wide services”.
Thunderful are likely best known for the SteamWorld series originally from Image & Form Games, which was folded into Thunderful Development.
This follows on from Atari previously acquiring Transport Tycoon from Chris Sawyer, the Surgeon Simulator franchise, the Intellivision brand and over 200 games, Totally Reliable Delivery Service, Awesomenauts, Swords & Soldiers and Digital Eclipse and Night Dive Studios over the last two years.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
