Silverpeak, the technology investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Playgiga SL, the Madrid-based cloud gaming company, on its acquisition by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). This acquisition has enabled this month’s launch of the Facebook Gaming cloud streaming service.
Founded in 2013, PlayGiga has been working with telcos to create streaming game technology for 5G, to help tech companies to reach more mobile gamers. It also developed a gaming-as-a-service platform, using Intel’s Visual Cloud platform, that enabled telcos and communication service providers to offer streaming games to their customers. Investors included Adara Ventures and Caixa Capital.
More than 380 million people play games each month on Facebook, and people will play cloud-streamed games alongside those playing instant games in HTML5. Facebook intends to add more games to its library, including PC games, but it is prioritising free-to-play titles at the moment. Facebook joins Google Stadia, Sony PlayStation Now, Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna and Microsoft xCloud in the game streaming market.
Silverpeak were engaged by Playgiga to run a twin track process of: a series B fund raising from both financial and corporate investors; and a sale to strategic acquirers. After numerous discussions with counterparties globally, the management and shareholders found Facebook’s strategic need and proposition compelling. Silverpeak negotiated the sale, and worked with lawyers J.G.H. & Abogabos in Madrid and Gunderson Dettmer in San Francisco.
Paddy MccGwire, a Managing Partner at Silverpeak, added “We are thrilled to have advised Playgiga in this highly strategic transaction with Facebook. Playgiga has a proven cloud gaming technology platform in an high opportunity market that was evolving fast. To be the enabler of Facebook’s Gaming cloud streaming service is a great outcome for Playgiga’s core team and shareholders.”