Video games services provider Keywords Studios has acquired LabCom, a Milan-based integrated PR and communications agency, for €1 million in cash.
LabCom, which was established in 2005, employs 16 people. Primarily focused on the video game sector in Italy, its clients include Riot Games, Konami and Bethesda.
It offers PR and digital communications advice, social media management, data-driven influencer campaigns and brand partnerships. LabCom will join Keywords’ marketing businesses in the Engage service line, and founder Marco Giannatiempo will continue to lead the business.
“Having worked closely with LabCom, we are very impressed by the quality of the team and the excellent service they provide to household names in the video game and wider entertainment sector in Italy and beyond,” said Bertrand Bodson, chief executive of Keywords Studios. “This transaction broadens our reach in PR and communications services, and supports our strategy of building out a complete marketing offering for our clients.”
Keywords will pay an initial €1 million in cash, with the possibility of issuing up to 12,412 new ordinary shares three years after the acquisition date, provided certain conditions are met.
“LabCom has always aimed to deliver constant growth over time and to broaden our customer service offering to further support our customers, enabling them to take advantage of new opportunities to promote their products,” said Mr Giannatiempo. “We are very excited by this important agreement and believe it will allow us to achieve excellent results in the coming years in Europe and beyond.”
This is the second acquisition this month for the Irish service provider, which announced in early December it had entered a conditional agreement to acquire US digital support platform Helpshift for up to $75 million (€71 million).
