Deck13 Acquired by Focus Home Interactive

Following the apparent success of The Surge franchise, the series’ publisher Focus Home Interactive has acquired Deck13 Interactive, the German studio responsible for these futuristic Dark Souls-inspired action-RPGs. And while right now we can only guess what this acquisition will lead to in the long run, everyone involved seems to be pretty enthusiastic about it.

Here’s a technical press release with some additional information:

PARIS, FRANCE – 25th June 2020 – FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE (FR0012419307 ALFOC), a leading French publisher of video games, announced the acquisition of 100% of share capital of Deck13 Interactive GmbH (“Deck13”), incorporated under German law. Deck13 Interactive is a leading German game development studio and long-time partner of Focus Home Interactive. Deck13 employs a team of 60 highly skilled workers and has developed over 20 games in the past 18 years. Deck13 Interactive has developed major successes such as The Surge franchise with Focus Home Interactive and achieved revenue of €5.5 million in the fiscal year ended 31st December 2019.

Jürgen Goeldner, Chairman of the Management Board, declared: “We are very happy to welcome the team of Deck13 and look forward to working together to achieve our ambitious objectives. This acquisition marks a major milestone in our growth story and will strengthen our business model. This acquisition will be financed by the drawing down of the new bank financing of €46 million which will also support our other future developments”.

Jan Klose, Managing Director and co-founder of Deck13, added: “I am delighted to announce that Deck13 is now part of Focus Home Interactive. Our companies have been working together successfully since 2011, developing award winning brands such as The Surge. We are looking forward to leveraging the incredible capabilities of Focus Home Interactive to develop new successes”.

This acquisition fits the EEE strategic plan of the Group and will enable Focus Home Interactive to take full control of the Intellectual Property. In addition, Focus Home Interactive is acquiring its publishing service for indie developments which will help the Group to explore new opportunities. FHI acquires 100% of Deck13’s share capital for a total amount of €7.1 million (of which €6.5 million in cash from the new banking facility and €0.6 million in shares held in treasury) and a long-term incentive plan for Deck13 managers. The deal was closed today.

As part of its development and acquisition strategy, Focus Home Interactive set up in early February 2020 a financing plan with five banks and Bpifrance Financement for a total amount of €46 million. This financing consists of several credit lines (€23.5 million) and a revolving credit facility (€15 million) and two credit lines (€7.5 million) with Bpifrance Financement. This financing was signed at attractive terms and conditions and the duration of the lenders’ commitment, over several years, once again demonstrates the credibility and the robustness of the Group’s business model and the potential of long-term ambitions