Churchill Downs Finalizes Acquisition of the Big Fish Games

12:04
30 Dec

The acquisition of the Big Fish Games, a Seattle based publisher of mobile games, by Churchill Downs has been finalized.

Churchill Down Inc. has announced in November that they are interested in taking over the company and that they were willing to pay up to $885m for the Big Fish games, one of the largest tech companies in the Northwest. Big Fish’s most famous games are Fairway Solitaire (card game), Gummy Drop and Big Fish Casino - a collection of gambling games in which players buy virtual chips to play.

Big Fish offers free games that have option of buying extras - different virtual items that help speed up the progress. For example, the game Big Fish Casino offers you free chips and when you spend it you can buy chips and continue to play or you can wait for hours until the game replenish them. Even though the most people never buy extras, The Big Fish revenue in 2013 was $266 million.

The Churchill Downs deal with the mobile game company has been finalized and it could be worth of $885 million for the owners and shareholders of the Big Fish Games. The first payment will amount to $485m, including stocks, interest payments and debts. A $350m more could potentially be earned by the owners of Big Fish Games if their company performs well and the special $50 m bonus will go to the Chief Executive Officer Paul Thelen if the company reaches their targets.

Many companies tried to get in the mobile games world but it seems than Churchill Downs has what it takes to make this acquisition successful. Microsoft, for example, has recently finalized the deal worth $2.5 billion and bought Mojang, the Swedish company behind the Minecraft.

Churchill Downs is a Thoroughbred horse racetrack that hosts Kentucky Derby annually. Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. Founded in 1875, Churchill Downs owns five racetracks, half a dozen casinos from Florida to Maine and it owns an online gambling industry.

The acquisition of Big Fish and our entry into the rapidly growing mobile and online games industry gives us new products, new customers, new geographies and new sizable growth opportunities. While many will view this transaction as a logical extension to what we currently do with Twinspires.com, what is most important to us are the strong team and the processes and capabilities that have been built by Big Fish in Seattle, Oakland, and Luxembourg.” Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc, www.igaming.org;
Paul Thelen, Big Fish’s founder and CEO, said that they are extremely proud of the company and that they believe the Churchill Downs is a great fit for them. Thelen thinks that with Churchill Downs, Big Fish has an opportunity to become a great force in the casual, social casino and online games industry.

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