MUMBAI: Mobile gaming company Nazara Technologies Limited has acquired a 67% stake in Absolute Sports Private Limited, the parent company of sports news website Sportskeeda for a total consideration of Rs 440 million.
Earlier, Nazara had partnered with Sportskeeda for content syndication. Post the acquisition, Sportskeeda will continue to operate as a separate brand, even as the companies will continue to identify areas of collaboration, Nitish Mittersain, founder and managing director, Nazara Technologies, said.
The deal has given an exit to Seed Fund, an early investor in Sportskeeda.
Nazara managing director Nitish Mittersain said his company had been considering the acquisition for some time given the synergies between the platforms. Nazara operates fantasy sports platform Hala Play and e-sports leagues through Nodwin Gaming, two companies where it acquired majority stake recently.
Earlier, Nazara had partnered with Sportskeeda for content syndication. Post the acquisition, Sportskeeda will continue to operate as a separate brand, even as the companies will continue to identify areas of collaboration, Mittersain said.
Founded in 2009 by Srinivas Cuddapah and Porush Jain, SportsKeeda is a sports news and content website, with articles, opinion pieces and forums for fans to interact with each other. In 2011, it raised $600,000 from Seed Fund. The company is managed by a team of 70-odd people based in Bengaluru.
“Nazara’s acquisition and investment into Sportskeeda is an important milestone in our journey. From our modest beginning as a multisport blog in 2009, we have become a one of a kind sports content platform,” said Jain, chief executive officer, Sportskeeda.
“We have our eyes set on becoming the world’s largest multi-sport platform by leveraging Nazara’s geographical reach in the sports-crazy Middle East & Africa markets,” he added.
Nazara did not reveal the turnover that Sportskeeda made last year but said the new property will add 25 million monthly active users (MAUs) to Nazara’s network.
“We at Nazara are building platforms for fan engagement across all aspects of sports entertainment and we believe that this move will serve a triple play offering to the 100 million strong network through content, competition and community across all emerging markets,” Mittersain said.
Nazara, which was planning to go public in 2018, and had obtained approval from the markets regulator, shelved its plans owing to weak market conditions. It plans to attempt a listing again next year.
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