Exclusive-Sweden’s Modern Times seeking $450 million IPO for India unit PlaySimple, sources say

By Vibhuti Sharma

MUMBAI (Reuters) -Swedish entertainment company Modern Times Group is planning to launch a $450 million initial public offering of its Indian game developer in Mumbai, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Founded in 2014, Bengaluru-based PlaySimple offers mobile word games like the Daily Themed Crossword and Word Bingo, competing with Wordle from The New York Times. Globally, Modern Times offers a number of popular mobile games, including RAID: Shadow Legends. It acquired PlaySimple in 2021 for $360 million.

Modern Times’ PlaySimple IPO plans have not been reported previously. A Modern Times spokesperson confirmed the company is “conducting an IPO preparedness study for PlaySimple,” without elaborating.

News of the company’s IPO planning comes as a number of global companies have recently sought local listings for their Indian subsidiaries. So far this year, firms have raised more than $16 billion via listings in India, making it the world’s third-largest IPO market, according to data from Dealogic.

For example, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics listed their local units in India over the past year. WeWork India, the local arm of the American provider of shared office space, also made its public debut this year.

The two sources said Modern Times is in talks with India’s Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan regarding advisory roles. A third person familiar with the matter said the company was seeking to launch the PlaySimple IPO in the first half of next year.

All sources declined to be named because the discussions are private. Axis and JP Morgan declined to comment, while Morgan Stanley did not respond to a request for comment.

While the first two sources said the IPO could raise $450 million, they did not specify a valuation target.

PlaySimple reported consolidated revenue from operations of $213.5 million last year with a profit of $59 million, according to Indian disclosures.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Mumbai; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Thomas Derpinghaus)