ASX Release
7 November 2019
Animoca Brands leads investment round into Sky Mavis, maker of Axie Infinity
Highlights:
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The Company is acquiring US$420,000 (approx. A$610,000) worth of shares of Sky Mavis in a cash and scrip deal (consisting of US$125,000 in cash and US$295,000 in AB1 shares issued at A$0.18 per share)
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Animoca Brands leads Hashed, Pangea Blockchain Fund, ConsenSys, and 500 Startups in an investment round totalling US$1.465m (approx. A$2.13m) into Sky Mavis, the maker of the highly rated blockchain game Axie Infinity
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The Company has signed an Advisory Agreement with Sky Mavis to receive advisory and consultation services in the areas of scarcity models and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
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The Company has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore further collaboration with Sky Mavis
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Axie Infinity is among the highest-grossing blockchain games, with sales of over US$1.1m (approximately A$1.6m), and partners that include Samsung, Klaytn (Kakao), MakerDAO, and Loom Network
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (ASX: AB1, “the Company”) is pleased to advise that it has entered, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Animoca Brands Limited, into a subscription agreement (“Subscription Agreement”) with Sky Mavis PTE. LTD (“Sky Mavis”) to acquire US$420,000 (approximately A$610,000) worth of ordinary shares in Sky Mavis for cash and shares in the Company. The Company has also signed an advisory agreement (“Advisory Agreement”) and a collaboration memorandum of understanding with Sky Mavis. Sky Mavis is the maker of the highly rated blockchain game Axie Infinity.
Sky Mavis is a blockchain game developer based in Singapore and Vietnam, well-known for its blockchain pet game Axie Infinity. Sky Mavis has raised a total of US$1.465 million (approximately A$2.13 million) from the Company, as lead investor, as well as from Hashed, Pangea Blockchain Fund, ConsenSys, and 500 Startups. Sky Mavis will use the funds to accelerate the development of Axie Infinity to include more features and to continue pushing the blockchain gaming industry forward.
Axie Infinity is a digital collectible pet game built on the Ethereum blockchain. In Axie Infinity, players can battle, raise, evolve, and trade fantasy creatures called Axies, which are visual representations of NFTs owned by the players. Each Axie has its own distinct look and attributes, and cannot be replicated. Axie Infinity launched in early 2018, and it is now one of the highest-grossing blockchain games, with over US$1.1 million (approximately A$1.6 million) in sales of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Its in-house marketplace has processed over 25,000 transactions with a total value of US$1.8 million (approximately A$2.62 million).
Axie Infinity has partnered with Samsung, Klaytn (the blockchain project of Kakao), MakerDAO, and Loom Network. Sky Mavis plans to release a new card game set in the Axie Infinity universe, with launch expected in the first half of 2020.
Details of the agreements
Subscription Agreement
As set out in the Subscription Agreement, the Company is investing US$420,000 (approximately A$610,000), comprising of cash and shares into Sky Mavis. This investment consists of US$125,000 (approximately A$182,000) in cash, and US$295,000 (approximately A$429,000) in fully paid ordinary shares of the Company issued at a price per share of A$0.18.
Advisory Agreement
The Company has entered into the Advisory Agreement with Sky Mavis to receive advisory and consultation services in the areas of scarcity models, as well as the design, development, and distribution of non-fungible tokens. The Company will pay Sky Mavis a fee amounting to US$45,000 (approximately A$65,000), payable in fully paid ordinary shares of the Company issued at a price per share of A$0.18.
Collaboration Memorandum of Understanding
In addition, the Company has signed a collaboration memorandum of understanding with Sky Mavis to explore opportunities to market and promote each other’s products to their respective platforms and networks, as well as to engage in discussions to publish Sky Mavis’s products in various markets.
Securities Issue
The Company intends to issue the new shares under the capacity provided by ASX Listing Rule 7.1. The proposed security issue is shown in the table below.
1,791,065 of the new shares to be issued by the Company in connection with the Subscription Agreement and the Advisory Agreement shall be subject to an escrow period of three months from the date of issue. Following the release of these shares from escrow, Sky Mavis has agreed that it will limit its resale of these shares in the public markets to 10% of the total amount, per week.
Management commentary
Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “We are very pleased and honoured to invest in and work with Sky Mavis, who has built up Axie Infinity into one of the most successful and popular blockchain games on the market. We look forward to a fruitful relationship.”
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About Sky Mavis
Sky Mavis is a technology company that aims to bring the benefits of the blockchain to everyone through fun and practical applications. Our products allow anyone to truly own their digital identity and game assets.
Homepage: https://skymavis.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/axieinfinity
Discord: https://axieinfinity.com/Discord
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands (ASX: AB1) leverages gamification, blockchain, and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products including games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products based on popular intellectual properties such as Formula 1®, Garfield, Snoopy, Thomas & Friends™, Ever After High and Doraemon. Animoca Brands’ portfolio of blockchain investments and partnerships includes Lucid Sight, Dapper Labs (creators of CryptoKitties), WAX, Harmony, and Decentraland. The Company is based in Hong Kong, Canada, Finland, and Argentina. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or get updates by following Animoca Brands on Facebook or Twitter.