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Investment Case

Keywords is the clear market leader, and a critical enabler of a massive and growing ecosystem.

We have global reach and a leading technology platform, and are increasingly seen as the partner of record for the major players in the market, working across all platforms, without IP risk. We have a long track record of value creation through our compounding growth model and are firmly on track to becoming a +€1bn revenue business

Compounding model has driven a long-term track record of growth

Since our listing in 2013, we have grown from €16m of revenues to €691m in 2022. Over the last five years, revenues have grown at a compound average growth rate of ~35% through a combination of strong organic growth and M&A. Over the same time period, organic revenue growth has averaged ~15% as we have benefited from both the growth in the video games industry and the trend towards greater use of our services. 

Our compounding growth model combines double-digit organic growth driven by high-levels of repeat business and strong customer relationships, with stable operating margins and strong cash conversion. This enables us to re-invest into value accretive M&A to drive future growth and propels us towards our medium-term target of over €1bn in annual revenues.

QA graph showing Keywords Growth
Revenue graph

Market-leading position

3x the size of the nearest competitor

Keywords is the only global provider of fully integrated creative and technology enabled solutions to the global video games industry and is ~3x the size of our nearest competitor. The industry is still incredibly fragmented, and there is a significant opportunity to grow our market share both organically and in-organically.

With an industry reputation for quality, reliability and flexibility, our global scale, full-service offering and technology platform mean we are well placed to take advantage of the trend for customers to move to more collaborative partnerships with fewer, larger suppliers.

Looking over the Earth from space.

Access to a large, dynamic growth market

3bn players driving demand for content 

We operate in a growing industry that services the needs of over three billion players, and requires the ongoing creation of engaging content. 

The content creation market is estimated to be worth ~$36bn, with around one third of this spent with external providers like us, presenting a large growth opportunity. 

Our focus on content means we are platform agnostic and the increasing complexity of games and consoles is driving demand for larger providers, such as Keywords.

A man gaming on a computer game

Critical enabler of the massive and growing video gaming and entertainment ecosystem

Our business model means we provide services and solutions to a broad client base rather than owning the intellectual property of a game.

This means we have exposure to the underlying growth in the overall video games market, without the risk of exposure to the performance of individual game titles. This provides more consistent growth, and our focus is on deepening our strategic relationships with the largest players in the market, we already service 24 of the top 25 gaming businesses and all of the top 10 mobile players. 

We believe that these relationships, together with our technology offering will only serve to increase our competitive moat against our smaller peers as the industry continues to grow and rely more and more on external service providers to get high-quality games to market. 

Inorganic growth engine

Completed over 60 acquisitions in the last 10 years

Since 2013, we have acquired over 60 businesses to augment our customer offerings, consolidate a fragmented market, extend our geographic reach and continually improve the quality of our earnings. 

The M&A pipeline continues to be very healthy, and we are selectively pursuing value accretive acquisitions, at valuations below Keywords' own rating, that support our strategic ambitions.

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The Power of Partnership: Our Clients

Google
Microsoft
Apple
WB Games
Take 2 Interactive
Nintendo
Playrix
Sony interactive entertainment
netmarble
Playtika
Perfect World
Sharkmob
NetEase Games
ncsoft
Square Enix
mixi
Ubisoft
Supercell
Nexon
Bandai Namco games
Konami
Tencent games
Riot Games
Electronic Arts
Cyber Agent