Foundation 9 studio sold to Glu in $28m deal

Mobile games giant Glu Mobile has acquired one of Foundation 9’s key handheld games studios in a deal valued at $28 million, the company has announced.

Washington based Griptonite Games, which has built handheld games based on some of gaming’s biggest franchises, was acquired for 6.1 million in common stock.

The US share price of Glu Mobile closed at $4.6 yesterday, valuing the buyout above $28 million.

Griptonite, which employs around 200 people, has driven retail revenues for Foundation 9 with games based on the Captain America, Green Lantern and Ben 10 brands. It is thought all development staff will keep their jobs, while Griptonite’s India facility, used for outsourcing, remains intact.

Net cash on Griptonite’s balance sheet will pay for a new free-to-play game project, Glu said.

“We look forward to being a major contributor to Glu’s social mobile gaming momentum,” said Griptonite studio boss J.C. Connors.

Glu Mobile, now a leading publisher of socially-connected mobile games across iOS and Android, also announced it has bought the Toronto smartphone games developer Blammo.

Smurf Village and Zombie Café creator Blammo was acquired for 1 million shares, putting the value of the deal at $4.6 million. An earn-out arrangement could see Balmmo receive up to $15 million more providing milestones are met.

Both acquisitions effectively doubles the workforce at Glu’s internal development arm.

“We are very pleased to have completed these acquisitions, as they represent an important step in scaling our business and executing our social mobile games strategy,” said Glu chief executive Niccolo de Masi.

“The integration of these acquisitions will approximately double our studio capacity dedicated to freemium titles, as well as add proven casual, freemium DNA to our team. We look forward to the exciting contributions that the Griptonite and Blammo teams will collectively bring to our 2012 social mobile gaming pipeline.”