LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Video games developer and publisher TinyBuild announced the 'acquihire' of development studio Animal on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm said it had been working with Animal for two years, developing Rawmen, which it described as a "light-hearted, multiplayer arena shooter" where players use food as a weapon to neutralise opponents.

It said the consideration for the acquihire, which refers to an acquisition for talent, rather than assets, included both upfront and deferred payments over the next three calendar years up to a maximum of $10.2m (£7.45m), split 30% to 70% between cash and newly-issued TinyBuild shares, subject to stretched operational targets being met.

The game was still under development, with the acquisition to be "slightly accretive" in 2021.

TinyBuild said it was central to its strategy to elevate core franchises from third-party, to first- and second-party.

By bringing Animal in-house, the firm said it expected to create value for shareholders, with high visibility on platform revenues helping to reduce execution risk.

"As a public company, we have an even more powerful platform from which we can deliver on our organic and merger and acquisition growth ambitions," said chief executive officer Alex Nichiporchik.

"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Animal, our fourth acquihire this year, as we continue to scale up our ambitions.

"Our experience of working with the studio over the last two years means we know they are going to be a great addition to the tinyBuild family."

Nichiporchik said TinyBuild's goal was to expand its position as a global developer and publisher, focusing on intellectual property ownership while creating long-term scalable franchises across a number of media formats.

"In addition, we are looking at a number of other potential acquihires and larger scale acquisitions to enhance the company's strategic and operational position."

At 0956 BST, shares in TinyBuild were up 3.84% at 257p.

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