gaming

ACON Investments has acquired Suzo-Happ Group, a supplier of components and accessories to the gaming, amusement and industrial markets, from Pfingsten Partners. Pfingsten will maintain a minority interest in Suzo-Happ and the company will continue to be led by President and CEO James Brendel and other members of the existing management team and staff.

The Suzo-Happ Group is a supplier of components and accessories to the gaming, amusement and industrial markets. The Suzo-Happ Group was formed in 2004 with the merger of Suzo International, headquartered in The Netherlands, and Happ Controls, headquartered in Mount Prospect, IL. Add-on acquisitions included Advanced Electronic Systems in 2005, Starpoint Electrics in 2006, and Dynamics Chinatec in 2007. Today, Suzo-Happ has manufacturing, engineering, distribution and service capabilities in 8 countries globally. The company has more than 500 employees and 20,000 customers worldwide and is headquartered in Mount Prospect, IL (www.suzohapp.com).

ACON Investments manages private equity funds and special purpose partnerships in the US and Latin America. ACON pursues a theme-based investment strategy by focusing on industries and businesses at key inflection points in their development and pursues these opportunities in close partnership with established management teams. The firm has offices in Washington, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Sao Paulo (www.aconinvestments.com).

“We are excited to partner with the management of Suzo-Happ Group to build value in a business that is poised for continued growth,” said Ken Brotman, Founding Partner of ACON. “The company has demonstrated solid performance through its long-tenured relationships with its customers and has built a solid foundation, which will ensure Suzo-Happ Group continued success. Customers see value in breadth of product, distribution excellence along with global engineering and manufacturing and we see continued opportunity to expand this concept across multiple end markets and geographies.”

Pfingsten Partners invests in middle market manufacturing, distribution and business services companies. Since completing its first investment in 1991, Pfingsten Partners has acquired 83 manufacturing, distribution, and business service companies and has over $1 billion of capital under management. The firm is based in Chicago, IL and has offices in Changan, China and New Delhi, India (www.pfingstenpartners.com).

Financing for the acquisition is being provided by PNC Bank and Cerberus Business Finance. Hogan Lovells acted as legal advisor to ACON Investments and Paul Hastings acted as legal advisor to Pfingsten Partners.

TA Associates today announced that it has completed a significant minority investment in Forgame Tech Co., Ltd, a developer and publisher of online, browser-based games. Qiming Venture Partners and Ignition Capital Partners partnered with TA Associates on the investment.

“TA Associates, Qiming Venture Partners and Ignition Capital Partners are pleased to complete this investment in Forgame, the leader in the vibrant Chinese browser-based gaming industry,” said Jason Tan, Director – China, TA Associates Asia Pacific. “With a diversified revenue stream, proven content development capabilities and a comprehensive game distribution network, Forgame has achieved significant growth since its founding. Given its robust product pipeline across multiple game categories, we anticipate continued strong performance by Forgame.”

Founded in 2008, Forgame is one of the largest web game companies in China. Forgame has developed 28 cloud-based multiplayer online games, including Ming Dynasty, Soul Guardians, Soul Guardians 2, Fantasy Ascension, The Ninth Heaven and Legend of Chaos. Under the “freemium” model, players can play all of Forgame’s games for free, and purchase in-game virtual goods and privileges to enhance their gaming experience. As of June 2012, Forgame’s publishing platform had more than 110 million registered users. The group is headquartered in Guangzhou, China (www.forgame.com).

“We continue to see a favorable shift to browser-based, freemium games, with revenue from virtual goods sales expected to grow significantly,” said Hans Tung, Managing Partner, Qiming Venture Partners, who will also join Forgame’s Board of Directors. “As the free-to-play model allows a user to play without purchasing an expensive game console, it is particularly attractive in regions with historically limited console markets such as China, South Korea and continental Europe. We anticipate significant ongoing market opportunities for Forgame in these regions.”

TA Associates makes buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer industries. Since founding in 1968 TA has invested in over 400 companies globally and has raised more than $18 billion in capital. The firm has offices in Boston, MA; London, UK; Menlo Park, CA; and Mumbai, India (www.ta.com).

Qiming Venture Partners is an early to growth stage venture capital firm with offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Qiming invests in young, fast-growing companies across China in the media and Internet, IT, consumer and retail, healthcare, and clean technology sectors. Founded in 2006, the firm manages four funds with over $1 billion in assets (www.qimingventures.com).

Ignition Capital Partners seeks to build and expand a select group of highly profitable, long-term businesses that occupy significant positions in their industries. The firm specializes in growth equity and specialized buyout investments. Ignition Capital Partners is based in Seattle (www.igncap.com).

O’Melveny & Myers provided legal counsel to TA Associates, Qiming Venture Partners and Ignition Capital Partners. Jingtian Gongcheng provided legal services to Forgame.