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Unity Announces Merger Agreement with ironSource (app monetization)

ILikeFeet

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it's a press release, so I'll post it in full

  • Highly accretive merger is expected to deliver a run rate of $1 billion in Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2024, and $300 million in annual EBITDA synergies by year three.
  • All-stock transaction values ironSource at approximately $4.4 billion, representing a 74% premium to the 30-day average exchange ratio.
  • Unity Board authorizes a share buyback program of up to $2.5 billion effective upon closing of the transaction.
  • Silver Lake and Sequoia, the two largest Unity shareholders, have committed to investing an aggregate $1 billion in Unity in the form of convertible notes to be issued at closing of the transaction.
  • ironSource reaffirms second quarter and full-year 2022 guidance provided during its first quarter earnings call; Unity expects second quarter financial results to be slightly higher than the top end of the guidance range provided during its first quarter earnings call; Unity reduces full-year 2022 revenue guidance from $1,350 - $1,425 million to $1,300 - $1,350 million.
SAN FRANCISCO & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unity (NYSE: U), the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content, and ironSource, (NYSE: IS), a leading business platform that empowers mobile content creators to turn their apps into scalable, successful businesses, announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which ironSource will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unity via an all-stock deal, where each ordinary share of ironSource will be exchanged for 0.1089 shares of Unity common stock. Once closed, current Unity stockholders will own approximately 73.5% and current ironSource shareholders will own approximately 26.5% of the combined company. The companies’ complementary offerings create a unique end-to-end platform that allows creators to create, publish, run, monetize, and grow live games and RT3D content seamlessly.

“We believe the world is a better place with more successful creators in it. The combination of Unity and ironSource better supports creators of all sizes by giving them all the tools they need to create and grow successful apps in gaming and other consumer-facing verticals like e-commerce,” said John Riccitiello, CEO of Unity. “This is a step further toward realizing our vision of a fully integrated platform that helps creators in every step of their RT3D journey. We look forward to welcoming Tomer Bar-Zeev, the CEO of ironSource, and the rest of ironSource’s talented team into the Unity family.”

The end-to-end platform synergy from the combination of the companies will enhance Unity’s offerings for creators of all sizes. Together with ironSource, Unity will transform and streamline how live games, RT3D apps and services are made by turning today’s linear creation and growth process into a deeply connected and interactive one. By integrating creation and growth more tightly, creators will be able to leverage data on audience feedback to improve content from the earliest stage in the creation process, and throughout the content lifecycle. This will unlock a flywheel where data from growth feeds improvements in content which in turn drives more business success for the content or app.

“To succeed today, creators need an extensive set of solutions and products working in concert to power amazing user experiences and sustainable business growth,” said Tomer Bar-Zeev, CEO of ironSource. “The combination of Unity and ironSource brings together every product needed to power that flywheel of growth, in a differentiated platform positioned to lead our category and beyond. We couldn’t be more excited about our shared mission to remove obstacles for creators to grow."

The deal will bring together the Unity game engine and editor, Unity Ads, and the rest of Unity Gaming Services (UGS) with ironSource’s best-in-class mediation and publishing platforms, giving developers a seamless and interoperable way to create, grow, and monetize their creations across their lifecycle. In the near term, ironSource's mediation platform will leverage the combined strength of the two companies' ad networks to deliver increased user reach and data scale, and provide an increased return on ad spend to advertisers. Telcos will also benefit from the combination of Unity and ironSource, which will provide them with enhanced opportunities to leverage interactive gaming and RT3D experiences on-device.

In addition to delivering benefits for creators, this transaction also provides significant benefits to shareholders. The combined company is expected to generate a run rate of $1 billion in Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2024.

In connection with the merger, Unity’s Board of Directors have also authorized a 24-month share buyback program of up to $2.5 billion, effective upon closing of the merger, which is expected to reduce dilution caused by the transaction.

Silver Lake and Sequoia have fully committed to purchase an aggregate of $1 billion in convertible notes from Unity at closing, demonstrating their belief in the value creation potential of the merger. The convertible notes to be issued to Silver Lake and Sequoia are due in 2027 and bear an interest rate of 2% per annum. The conversion price is $48.89 per share.

"Beyond our platform, we expect the combination of our business with ironSource to transform Unity’s financial profile to that of a highly profitable and free cash flow positive company," said Luis Visoso, CFO, Unity. “We expect to generate $300 million in annual EBITDA synergies by year three.”
 
Another move that developers on their platform aren't really asking for.
It's a deal that looks better to investors than clients imo.
 
The game dev tool set business model is thin. Unity gets around 30-40% of revenue from the game engine, profit percentage is likely a lot less. Most of the cash flow comes from ads and analytics. Epic also has very little money coming from UE, which is a huge red flag considering how widespread UE is and how most of its clients are high revenue earners. If I remember correctly from the lawsuit, 90-95% of Epic's money came from Fortnite.

Unity has such a huge advantage its frustrating to see them continue to mess it up and not invest in the actual game engine. Improving the codebase, dev support, documentation, would go a huge way. Unity's moat is its developer network. If devs no longer see Unity as the future, and start building docs, libraries, frameworks for other engines, Unity loses massively.

One would have thought that by buying Weta or Parsec, Unity would work double time to integrate their tools, maybe give a roadmap for Unity in the AAA scene, but its still all up in the air from what I've seen.

Best case scenario: this is Unity's Fortnite. A constant stream of revenue that they safely guarantee, that will help with the engine R&D costs.

Also not happy that they got the EA CEO as their CEO.
 
I've told friends before "Content is King, I'd like to buy into the tool makers". And I have Unity in my portfolio, not a huge amount but still. I've been disappointed w/ shares like everyone else, but not discouraged about the company ... until this news. This deal feels shady.
 
Applovin offers to buy Unity
not gonna make a new thread as this is just an offer at the moment, but Applovin is offering to buy the company in an all stock transaction. Applovin is also a mobile monetization company

Gaming software company AppLovin Corp (APP.O) on Tuesday made an offer to buy peer Unity Software Inc (U.N) in a $17.54 billion all-stock deal, looking to tap into growing demand for three-dimensional gaming.

The enterprise value of the deal is $20 billion. AppLovin will offer $58.85 for each Unity share, which represents a premium of 18% to Unity's Monday closing price.

Under the proposed deal, Unity will own 55% of the combined company's outstanding shares, representing about 49% of the voting rights.

full article
 
not gonna make a new thread as this is just an offer at the moment, but Applovin is offering to buy the company in an all stock transaction. Applovin is also a mobile monetization company







full article

It seems Unity doesn’t want to merge with them
 
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