SilverBirch To Acquire Dutch Publisher Lighthouse

Officials from Canadian developer SilverBirch have announced an agreement to acquire Dutch video games publisher Lighthouse Interactive. The immediately accretive acquisition is described as a first step in SilverBirch’s strategy of building an integrated video game company. Currently working on PSP and Nintendo DS versions of Xbox Live Arcade hit N+, Toronto based SilverBirch also operates its own Jambo Mobile division and massively multiplayer online game Metin 2. Lighthouse Interactive has offices in Toronto, Montreal, London and Haarlem in The Netherlands. The company specializes in PC role-playing, strategy, action and simulation products, including titles such as Overclocked, Sword of the Stars and Ship Sim. SilverBirch will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Lighthouse for a price of up to CA$4.0 million ($3.97 million), payable via $1.25 million in cash, a $400,000 vendor note, 3.85 million common shares of SilverBirch and an earn-out based on fiscal 2008 financial performance. "The strategic significance of expanding into publishing can't be overemphasized," commented Derek van der Plaat, SilverBirch CEO. "Being a developer and a publisher will allow us to further diversify our revenue streams and capture a greater proportion of the video game industry value chain." "The synergies between our two companies made the decision to become part of SilverBirch an easy one for us. This deal will help Lighthouse to further develop our business and access vertical market opportunities as we continue to expand the Lighthouse brand," said Steve Wall, executive vice president and co-founder of Lighthouse Interactive.