Netflix offers to buy game studio Next Games

Netflix has offered to buy publicly listed Finnish Next Games, the mobile games company said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We are excited for Next Games to join Netflix as a core studio in a strategic region and key talent market, expanding our internal game studio capabilities,” said Netflix’s Vice President of games Michael Verdu.

Shares in the game studio surged 119% to 2.04 euros.

After entering the mobile gaming market last November, the streaming giant is now planning to invest 65 million euros ($72.08 million) in Next Games, an offer recommended by the mobile game company’s board of directors, the statement read.

The offer would mean a price of 2.1 euros per share, more than double the share’s closing price of 0.93 euros on Tuesday in Nordic First North stock exchange.

The companies said they expect the transaction to close by end of June.

($1 = 0.9018 euros).

About Next Games

Next Games is the first publicly listed mobile game developer and publisher in Finland, specializing in games based on entertainment franchises, such as movies, TV series or books.

The developers of the critically acclaimed The Walking Dead games redefine the way franchise entertainment transforms into highly engaging service-based mobile games. Next Games works on multiple new games based on beloved global IP’s.

The company’s latest game, Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, is based on Netflix’s hit 80s horror drama series.