Nazara Technologies on Monday said it has cancelled a planned top-up purchase of shares in Moonshine Technology Pvt Ltd, parent of online poker platform PokerBaazi.
The decision comes in the wake of India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which has placed a blanket ban on online real-money gaming (RMG).
Nazara informed the bourses it issued a Notice of Termination on August 31 to I3 Interactive Inc to scrap the agreed acquisition of 38,073 fully paid equity shares (about 0.96% of Moonshine) for ₹15.9 crore.
Nazara, which currently holds a 46.07% stake in Moonshine and has invested ₹805 crore in the company thus far, may ultimately write off its entire investment, even as it has asserted it has the “cash flows to absorb any impairment”.
Nazara CEO Nitish Mittersain has posted on LinkedIn that the company will “evaluate the potential impairment”. It bears noting that Nazara’s stock price has fallen more than 5% since the gaming bill was first introduced on August 20.
Per Outlook Start-Up, Nazara had previously struck a broader agreement to acquire up to 47.7% of Moonshine for ₹831.5 crore via a secondary transaction and approved an equity infusion of up to ₹150 crore in the form of compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS), which together would have taken total committed capital to around ₹982 crore.
PokerBaazi job cuts
Moonshine, which operates PokerBaazi, has paused all RMG operations since the law was enacted on August 22. PokerBaazi is reportedly cutting about 50% of its workforce, while other gaming platforms and vendors have either suspended cash offerings or announced staff reductions and pivots to alternate lines of business.
In the wake of the body blow the RMG sector has suffered as a result of the new law, Head Digital Works, parent of rival A23 (it has rummy and poker offerings), is the first company to challenge the new legislation before the Karnataka High Court. The court has issued notice to the Central government following that petition.
