18 September 2019

Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")

Acquisition of TV+SYNCHRON Berlin GmbH

Strengthening the Group's Audio services in the important German Video-Games and Entertainment voice-over recording market

 Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the entire equity share capital of TV+SYNCHRON Berlin GmbH ("TVS") from Thomas Wolfert (the "Seller"), a veteran of the German dubbing industry. The acquisition is expected to complete, subject to certain conditions being fulfilled, on 1 October 2019.  

Based in Berlin, Germany, TVS has over 25 years of experience of dubbing and localizing content into German, working across a wide range of media and formats. With a reputation for high quality and a highly specialized team across multiple disciplines, TVS is one of the top German voice over service providers with clients include the likes of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, Amazon and many others. TVS is also a Gold-rated Netflix Post-Production Partner (NP3) for German Dubbing Lip Sync services.

The acquisition will extend the Group's existing range of Audio services through its five recording studios, two mixing stages and four editing suites, all equipped with state-of-the-art technology, by  more than doubling the scale of our German video game voice recording capabilities.  It will provide direct access to the all-important Berlin voice actor community, adding to our existing presence in Hamburg, Germany through Synthesis.

Thomas Wolfert will remain in the business and continue to manage TVS and its talented team of 19 employees.

In the year to 31 December 2019, TVS is expected to generate revenues of €4.1m. The total consideration for the acquisition is comprised of €2.8m in cash on completion and €0.9m through the issue of new ordinary shares in Keywords. The consideration shares will be issued to the Seller on the first anniversary of the acquisition and will then be subject to orderly market provisions for a further 12 months.

Giacomo Duranti, COO of Keywords Studios commented:

"This acquisition is an important milestone in the development of our Audio services in Europe. Germany is one of the two largest markets for voice-over and dubbing in Europe, together with France where Keywords already has an unparalleled offering, and the integration of TVS into the Group will create a market leading provider of services for German localised video games.

"Keywords and TVS have collaborated on a number of projects in the last year, giving us a chance to appreciate their highly experienced team's capabilities and work together to deliver excellent content to our clients. We are delighted to welcome Thomas and the talented TVS team to the Keywords family, and are looking forward to supporting their further growth across video-games as well as film, TV and streaming industry as these markets continue to develop."

For further information, please contact: 

 About Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com) 

Keywords Studios is an international technical services provider to the global video games industry. Established in 1998, and now with over 50 facilities in 21 countries strategically located in Asia, the Americas and Europe, it provides integrated art creation, software engineering, testing, localisation, audio and customer care services across more than 50 languages and 16 games platforms to a blue-chip client base of approximately 950 clients across the globe. 

It has a strong market position, providing services to 23 of the top 25 most prominent games companies, including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Konami, Riot Games, Sony, Square Enix, Supercell, TakeTwo, Epic Games and Ubisoft. Recent titles worked on include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Call of Duty: WWII, Mortal Combat X, Assassin's Creed Origins, Battlefield 1, League of Legends, Fortnite, Clash Royale and Rainbow Six Siege. Keywords Studios is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L).

About TV+SYNCHRON Berlin (www.tv-synchron.de/en)

TVS has been in the business of dubbing and localizing films and series for more than 25 years bringing together creative teams of dubbing writers, session directors and voice actors to work on hundreds of movies and thousands of TV episodes using state-of-the-art and purpose built facilities technically outfitted for cinema, video games, streaming, on-demand and TV programming.

With a track record of over 7,000 episodes and more than a quarter million minutes of voiced material, TVS can provide clients with tailored solutions for any type of projects.