Team17 assesses potential acquisition opportunities after results exceed both management and market expectations

Last year, the group’s performance was boosted by three strategic acquisitions, Hell Let Loose, astragon and The Label. In 2022, organic underlying like for like revenues grew 3 per cent to £93.2m with an additional £44.2m recorded in revenue from the business acquisitions completed over the last eighteen months. Group headcount grew to 392 at year end from 265 a year earlier with 53 staff members joining as a direct result of the acquisitions. With the addition of the acquisitions made in January 2022 and a full year contribution from StoryToys, the group saw revenues increase by 52 per cent to £137.4m.

Debbie Bestwick MBE, Chief Executive Officer of Team17, commented: “2022 was unquestionably a transformational year with a strong performance for the group. Personally, I feel it was characterised by the delivery of our highly selective M&A (merger and acquisition) strategy, alongside our team’s successful lifecycle management across our portfolio. Last year we collectively focused in on our long-term strategy on a division-by-division basis and doubled down on future pipeline roadmaps. It’s a privilege to work with the leadership team within the group, as well as their individual teams; they are passionately committed to the group’s values, core business model, and future ambitions.

She added: “As the Team17 family grew in 2022, it was a priority for us to ensure everyone in our team felt equally part of the broader group. To this end we were delighted to extend our fully funded Employee Benefit Trust, to ensure all our UK and European team members have the opportunity to be shareholders. Team17 now has its most diverse range of owned, third-party, and licensed IP yet, targeting the broadest audiences across multiple platforms with a clear, deliverable roadmap ahead and we look forward to updating our shareholders on our progress throughout 2023.”

The statement added: “The group has performed well in the last year against a backdrop of a challenging macro-economic and market

competitive environment and led to group results that exceeded both management and market expectations.

“We continue to focus on our core activities of identifying, developing and publishing high-quality games. The group now benefits from the strength of the underlying Games Label, which includes the recently acquired Hell Let Loose IP and The Label, alongside StoryToys and astragon giving the group a wider and growing portfolio with owned and third-party IP content appealing to all ages and genres across multiple platforms and sales channels.”

Commenting on outlook, Team17 said in a statement: “The board remains mindful of the current global macro-economic pressures affecting all businesses but is focused across the group on the areas that can be controlled and looks forward to continuing to deliver great gaming experiences for Team17’s customers, and in turn delivering increased shareholder value.”