In the midst of a global financial crisis that some investors worry threatens to bring about a wide-scale recession, Infinity I-China Fund has invested $20 million in Israeli casual games developer Oberon Media.
The Infinity equity fund and the gaming start-up have targeted China as a prime source of growth and revenue. The Infinity fund concentrates on investments in companies that are industry leaders and are focused on China
Infinity I-China Fund co-chairman Avi Fischer said, "Despite the stormy markets, we support this investment in this timing. We believe, now more than ever, in the strength of the Chinese economy and in the importance of cooperation between Chinese and Israelis".
Infinity I-China Fund managing partner Amir Gal-Or pointed out that China presents a large and expanding market for game development, and that the fund hopes to leverage its stake in Oberon to build a larger presence in that sector. “China, which has a strong and rapidly growing local gaming market with more than $2 billion in annual sales and 50 million users, is building a reputation as an emerging site for game development studios. The Oberon Media investment, our flagship deal within the gaming cluster, is meant to serve as our cornerstone and a model for future Infinity I-China investments", said Gal-Or.
I-China's gaming cluster leader, Infinity senior director Mark Chess, added that there may be more investments in the field, saying, "We are in dialogue with several potential portfolio companies where an investment may be synergistic with our gaming cluster strategy.”
Oberon Media has two main business activities: gaming platforms which offer management, aggregation, billing and advertising tools; and casual game publishing which covers production, development and distribution of casual games across all platforms-online, mobile, iTV- and at retail.
“Expanding our business into China is an important part of Oberon Media’s global strategy,” said Tal Kerret, Chairman of Oberon Media.
The Infinity I-China Fund is the leading fund of Infinity Equity founded by Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. from the IDB group and SVG Group from Suzhou, China. Infinity Equity manages more than $600 million through three funds, with a portfolio of 45 companies and 20 successful exits.
The Infinity I-China Fund, Infinity’s second fund in China, is the first and largest fund that focuses on Israeli-Chinese related opportunities and serves as a bridge for Israeli-Chinese business initiatives and for other non-Chinese companies doing business in China. The fund is managed by Amir Gal-Or, Avishai Silvershatz, and Fei Jianjang.
Oberon has acquired several related firms worldwide in the past two years. In May of 2007, the company bought games provider I-play for around $100 million, and several months later bought US-based PixelPlay. Oberon added several Eastern European companies as well later in 2007. The company also has a deal with MySpace to provide a gaming channel on MySpace Games.
Oberon Media was founded in 2003. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. Its investors include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Oak Investment Partners, and Lehman Brothers Venture Capital.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 6, 2008
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