Catalis
Liberty advises Catalis on their acquisition by NorthEdge Capital
The team at Liberty have provided great support and guidance through the process. Their input has been invaluable, and the level of expertise and speed of response has made our jobs infinitely easier
Dominic Wheatley
Chief Executive Officer of Catalis
NorthEdge Capital has completed the acquisition of Catalis Group, one of the UK’s leading independent video games companies, in a deal that values the business at £90 million.
NorthEdge has invested £46.6m through its acquisition vehicle Project Sword Bidco, whilst Vespa Capital, which has been a shareholder in Catalis since 2014, and CEO Dominic Wheatley have reinvested the majority of their shareholdings in Catalis as part of the transaction.
Catalis, which has been led by CEO Dominic Wheatley since 2012, provides a range of services into the high growth, global video games market through two divisions: Curve Digital; and Testronic. Curve is an award winning publisher of independent video games across all major console and PC platforms with a catalogue of titles including Human: Fall Flat, which has sold in excess of 7 million copies to date. Testronic provides quality assurance services to the global games publishing and film and TV markets. The business has experienced rapid expansion and now employs over 1,000 people across its headquarters in London and offices in Los Angeles, Warsaw, Santiago, Brighton, Croydon and Bangkok.
As part of the acquisition, NorthEdge has committed follow on capital to support management’s growth strategy. Funding will be used to continue the global expansion of Testronic, including the opening of a significant new location in New Orleans, and to support the development pipeline at Curve.
Debt facilities for the transaction were provided by Tosca Debt Capital and HSBC.
Liberty advised Dominic and his team on their investments in the new company and their management incentive arrangements going forward.