Stillfront Group acquires casual game maker Candywriter for $74.4 million

Stillfront Group has fully acquired casual game developer Candywriter for an initial $74.4 million. The deal will see Stillfront pay $37.5 million in 708,463 newly issued shares and the remaining $36.9 million in cash. 

An earn-out consideration worth a total of $120.6 million has also been inserted into the deal, and will be paid out in annual installment depending on the EBIT development of Candywriter in 2020, 2021, and 2022. 

Candywriter has been making mobile titles for over a decade, and generated around $26 million in revenue during 2019. 

Its game portfolio includes the flagship text-based life simulator BitLife and legacy apps like Letter Soup and Adult Colouring Book, and currently boasts around 1.2 million daily active users and 7.8 million monthly active users. 

Stillfront, which owns a number of studios including Coldwood Interactive, GoodGame, and Dorado Games, claims the purchase will help diversify its output and put it in a position to become a leading player in the freemium market. 

"The acquisition of Candywriter is an excellent next step in further broadening our diversified portfolio, both in terms of genre, audience and addressable market," said Stillfront chief exec, Jörgen Larsson

"Candywriter has developed a number of interesting apps and casual games since 2006 and with BitLife, they have created a unique game in the market, with 42 million downloads to date. We look forward to merging our capabilities in different areas."