Reworks Joins Playtika in a $600M Acquisition Agreement

In a rather curious business decision at first glance, Israel-based digital entertainment company Playtika announced this Monday that it is acquiring the owner of the home design game Redecor – the Finnish company Reworks. 

Playtika’s Eighth Acquisition Deal

The deal envisions Playtika paying $400 million upfront for 80% of Reworks and an additional of up to $200 million based on the target’s 2022 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

If the EBITDA targets aren’t reached, the deal will have Playtika acquire the rest of Reworks for a single dollar. 

Playtika is better known for its casino and gambling-related applications, making the acquisition of Redecor a pretty unorthodox choice. The digital entertainment company boasts of having 9 out of the 100 highest-grossing games in the big app stores. Some of Playtika’s most popular apps include World Series of Poker Social, Caesars Slots, Bingo Blitz, and Slotmania. In the light of those, Redecor may seem a bit out of place.

However, Redecor isn’t to be underestimated as it proudly stands as the top 2 design entertainment app and has a strong potential for monetization. The home design game has seen a 33% percent growth since 2019 and currently has an estimate of 36 million monthly users. 

“Home Décor comprises 12 percent of all US e-commerce sales, is one of the most popular categories on Pinterest, and returns more than 100 million Home Décor-related Instagram posts,” a statement concerning the acquisition agreement mentions.

Playtika: A Leader on the Mobile Market

Additionally, according to statistics, the two companies’ communities share significant demographic traits. Therefore, a forecast estimates that Playtika’s sales might increase by as much as $30 million by the end of the year. 

Playtika was founded in 2010. Just a year after it was created, it was acquired by the casino giant Caesars Interactive for $130 million. Five years later, Caesars sold Playtika for $4.4 billion. 

Playtika has always been keen on acquisition deals that can boost its performance. The current one is the eighth in the company’s history and by far the most expensive one. Playtika announced that it plans on continuing with this merge-and-acquire approach for the future. An announcement said that the company has around $1.4 billion prepared for future deals. 

Playtika currently maintains a strong financial position, partially thanks to its initial public offering in January. With such strong leverage, it is yet to be seen what Playtika’s next move is going to be.