Skillz to Acquire Aarki to Form First Integrated Esports Advertising Platform
June 02 2021 - 6:30AM
Business Wire
- Aarki’s Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms to be Augmented by
Skillz’s Deep First Party Data
- Aarki’s Reach of More Than 465 Million Monthly Users Will
Extend Skillz’s Player Acquisition Capabilities
- Acquisition Agreement Expected to Close in Third Quarter
2021
Skillz (NYSE: SKLZ), the leading mobile games platform bringing
fair and fun competition to players worldwide, today announced it
has entered into an agreement to acquire Aarki, a leading
technology-driven marketing platform. The highly complementary
acquisition will broaden Skillz’s footprint across the rapidly
expanding mobile gaming industry by combining its competitive
platform with Aarki’s advanced advertising capabilities.
Aarki is a growing demand-side platform (DSP) with global scale
and a proven track record in the mobile gaming market. Aarki
engages in more than five trillion monthly advertising auctions.
The company leverages its robust creative services, rich data
engines, and proprietary machine learning algorithms to deliver
industry-leading ROI for performance advertisers.
“Aarki’s proven machine learning will pair with Skillz’s robust
first-party data to create an unrivaled value proposition for game
developers,” said Skillz CEO Andrew Paradise. “The integrated
ecosystem will unlock new points of connectivity between consumers,
developers, and brands, pairing the right impression with the right
user at the right time, all while delivering a superior user
experience.”
“Joining Skillz will offer tremendous advantages to both the
Aarki team and our customer community,” said Aarki CEO Levon
Budagyan. “Harnessing the combined power of our data science
platforms will further increase our industry-leading performance
marketing.”
Aarki is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA and its approximately
160 employees will join the Skillz workforce, with Budagyan
continuing to lead the business as a division of Skillz.
Skillz will acquire 100% of Aarki for approximately $150 million
in cash and stock. The transaction is subject to customary closing
conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of
2021.
LionTree Advisors served as financial advisor and Latham &
Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to Skillz in the
transaction.
Investor Conference Call and Webcast
The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast at
8:30 am Eastern Time, June 2, 2021 to discuss the transaction. The
conference call can be accessed by registering online at
registration, at which time registrants will receive dial-in
information as well as a passcode and registrant ID. At the time of
the call, participants will dial in using the numbers in the
confirmation email and enter their passcode and ID, upon which they
will enter the conference call. An audio replay of the conference
call will be available from 11:30 am Eastern Time on June 2, 2021
through June 9, 2021 and can be accessed by dialing (800) 585-8367
(domestic) or (416) 621-4642 (international).
The conference call can also be accessed online by registering
at webcast registration. An archived replay of the webcast will be
available on the Skillz investor relations website following the
conclusion of the call.
About Skillz Inc.
Skillz is the leading mobile games platform that connects
players in fair, fun, and meaningful competition. The Skillz
platform helps developers build multi-million dollar franchises by
enabling social competition in their games. Leveraging its patented
technology, Skillz hosts billions of casual esports tournaments for
millions of mobile players worldwide, and distributes millions in
prizes each month. Skillz has earned recognition as one of Fast
Company’s Most Innovative Companies, CNBC’s Disruptor 50, Forbes’
Next Billion-Dollar Startups, and the #1 fastest-growing company in
America on the Inc. 5000. www.skillz.com
About Aarki
Aarki helps brands grow and re-engage their mobile users, using
machine learning (AI), big data, and engaging creative. We strive
to deliver performance at scale across different marketing
objectives to meet the target return on investment. Our data offers
deep insights into user intent and usage habits. To drive
performance, we activate our data assets through proprietary
machine learning algorithms and engage users in real time with
personalized creative. Aarki raised one institutional round of
capital led by Walden Venture Capital. www.aarki.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company’s
actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates, and
projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these
forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words
such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,”
“believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar
expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions)
are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and
uncertainties that could cause the Company’s actual results to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements. Most of these factors are outside of the Company’s
control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such
differences include, but are not limited to, the ability of Skillz
to: close the proposed acquisition of Aarki within the expected
timeframe or at all; achieve the intended benefits of acquiring
Aarki; acquire any regulatory approvals that may be required for
the transaction; manage the impact of the transaction on the
Company’s business, including any synergies from the transaction;
effectively compete in the global entertainment, gaming, and mobile
advertising industries; attract and retain successful relationships
with the third party developers that develop and update all of the
games hosted on Skillz’s platform; comply with laws and regulations
applicable to its business; and as well as other risks and
uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Company’s SEC
filings, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, which are
available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional
information will be made available in other filings that the
Company makes from time to time with the SEC. In addition, any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release are
based on assumptions that the Company believes to be reasonable as
of this date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after
the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the
occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Source: Skillz Inc.
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