Motorsport Games to Increase Its Stake In 704Games

The spending spree continues with Motorsport Games to increase its stake in 704Games, the developers of the NASCAR Heat series. Having already acquired rFactor 2 and developers Studio 397, along with KartKraft and developers Black Delta, the company has entered an agreement to acquire the stock of PlayFast Games LLC, who are a minority stockholder in 704Games.

We’ll add the financial details below for those interested. But what does it mean for NASCAR Heat? Probably not much, as Motorsport Games were already majority holders of stock since 2018. There’s a similar offer being tabled for the remaining minority interest remaining in 704Games, and if accepted, it means the developers would become a 100% owned subsidiary. But it’s a further sign of the aggressive investment and consolidation by the gaming division of the Motorsport Network, which owns a big variety of automotive websites and events around the world.

It means three popular sim racing titles and developers are now owned by the same company. But whether that’s a good or bad thing will be revealed over the coming months and years. Some developers do well with larger backing, and others struggle, but it all depends on the individual circumstances.

The details of the transaction include:

• Motorsport Games intends to acquire the 30,903 shares of common stock of 704Games owned by PlayFast, which represents approximately 7.6% of the outstanding common stock of 704Games, in exchange for
  • 366,541 newly issued shares of Class A common stock of Motorsport Games (representing approximately 3.4% of the currently outstanding shares); and
  • cash in an amount to be determined based on the share price of Motorsport Games over the last ten trading days of this month.
• The total transaction with PlayFast for cash and shares is valued at approximately $10.75 million, based on the closing price on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
• The transaction is subject to customary conditions to closing and is expected to be completed on April 1, 2021.
• Upon closing of the transaction, Motorsport Games would increase its ownership interest in 704Games from approximately 82.2% to 89.9%.

The official information includes a consideration to the other minority stockholder, Ascend FS with a deadline of March 17th, 2021 to be accepted. If accepted, then 704Games will become completely owned by Motorsport Games going forwards.

The most recent title from 704Games is NASCAR Heat 5, which you can buy from Steam for the PC, the Microsoft Store for Xbox One, or the PlayStation store for PS4. Physical edition of the game are available from Amazon or Play Asia (US version).