Devolver Digital Makes Plans to Become a Private Company Again
Indie publisher Devolver Digital have put plans in motion to delist from the London Stock Exchange and become a private company again. In astatement to investors, Devolver Digital have announced that it. . .
Indie publisher Devolver Digital have put plans in motion to delist from the London Stock Exchange and become a private company again. In astatement to investors, Devolver Digital have announced that it intends to stop trading on the London Stock Exchange’s ‘AIM’ market, proposing to return up to $5 Million to eligible shareholders through a share buyback setup. If shareholders approve the proposal, Devolver Digital will become a privately owned company rather than one that’s publicly traded, which has been the case since it went public in 2021. The Devolver team been pretty upfront as to ‘why’ they want to do this, they’ve been pretty frank on the situation. Per Devolver, the “global video games industry has undergone a period of significant disruption and volatility” that has seen record lay-offs, and an “unpredictable market environment. ” Due to the very nature of making video games, Devolver has “at times faced increased pressure to deliver short-term market expectations that do not necessarily reflect the underlying long-term value creation potential of its portfolio and development pipeline. ”Here’s there full statement:The Company’s Shares were admitted to trading on AIM on 5 November 2021. Since then, the global video games industry has undergone a period of significant disruption and volatility, characterised by widespread layoffs for studios and publishers, platform rationalisation and substantial impairments across the industry. Devolver has during this time navigated a number of operational and market headwinds, including several impairments of underperforming titles amid an increasingly competitive and unpredictable market environment. As a publicly-quoted company, Devolver has faced the ongoing challenge of delivering growth in line with market expectations despite those difficult sector conditions, resulting in a valuation disconnect that does not take account of the lifetime and long-tail revenue delivery inherent in the video games business. The nature of Devolver’s business as an indie game publisher and developer is that financial performance is inherently linked to the timing and scale of individual titles. Development timelines can be unpredictable, and, as a result, financial performance can vary significantly between reporting periods and may not follow a linear progression. The Board feel this irregularity has not been readily compatible with the requirements of the market for semi-annual reporting with an emphasis on predictable, sequential growth. Consequently, the Company has at times faced increased pressure to deliver short-term market expectations that do not necessarily reflect the underlying long-term value creation potential of its portfolio and development pipeline. If this all means more great Devolver games without them having to somehow satisfy shareholders with a ‘line must go up’ mentality, then I think most gamers will be all for it. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens next. What do you think about Devolver Digital’s moves to become a private company again? Let us know in the comments below!EnjoyingDayOne? Do us a favour, and make us a ‘Preferred Source on Google‘ – that way, you’ll only be delivered more gaming coverage from our team. Head over and let us know your thoughts in theDayOne Forums, the perfect place to chat about games if you’re a little more old-school and prefer things in a longform format. Prefer the chaos of live and fast moving conversation? Come and make some noise in the livelyDayOne Community Discord Serverinstead. If you’re rocking a DayOne Membership, both places give special access for our supporters, and you’ll unlock a ton of exclusive content, just for you.