Sweden’s Stillfront Group buys Dubai-based Babil Games for up to $17 million

Sweden’s Stillfront Group, maker of games that include Call of War, has acquired Dubai-based Babil Games for $17 million.

The deal shows that the Middle Eastern and North African games market is becoming a significant market on the global stage of gaming.

Babil started in 2012, and it has 12 employees in Dubai and Amman, Jordan. It has several successful mobile games, such as Admiral, Niba Harb 2, Asefat Al-Dababat, and Jaish Al-Foolath.

Babil’s games are primarily sourced from Asia with long term exclusive publishing rights. All localized content belongs to Babil. The founders team of Babil will remain on board and also lead the company in the future — under the umbrella of Stillfront.

Babil will receive an upfront payment of $4.5 million plus earn-outs that can take the total to $17 million. The purchase price is payable 50 percent in cash and 50 percent in newly issued shares in Stillfront.

Jörgen Larsson, CEO of Stillfront Group, said in a statement, “Babil and Stillfront constitutes an excellent fit. We share the passion, philosophy, and cornerstones of Stillfront’s PLEX strategy, and Babil will strengthen Stillfront’s position in a number of strategic areas — for instance, in the mobile strategy games space and with publishing capabilities. The truly unique position of Babil, now within our Group, will create significant value going forward. I am extremely pleased to have the founders and their committed team as valuable new members to the Stillfront family.”

The deal is contingent on approval of the Creative City Free-Zone Authority in the Emirate of Fujairah, U.A.E.

Mohammed Fahmi, founder and CEO of Babil Games, said in a statement, “I am excited for Babil to be joining forces with Stillfront Group. We share a common vision and objectives, and I firmly believe this will be a great strategic advantage for both companies, enabling us to become a larger family that will strengthen our foothold in local and global markets.”

Agnitio Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to Babil Games in this transaction.

Stillfront operates four near-autonomous subsidiaries: Bytro Labs in Germany, Coldwood Interactive in Sweden, Power Challenge in the UK and Sweden, and Dorado Online Games in Malta. Stillfront’s games are distributed globally. The main markets are Sweden, Germany, the United States, and South America.