Tag: Equity Investment

United States – The Walt Disney Company has announced that will be acquiring a US$1.5b equity stake in Epic Games, alongside a collaboration to create a new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. 

Moroever, players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine.

Robert Iger, chief executive officer at The Walt Disney Company, said, “Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”

Meanwhile, Tim Sweeney, CEO and founder at Epic Games, commented, “Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio. Now we’re collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”

Lastly, Josh D’Amaro, chairman at Disney Experiences, said, “This will enable us to bring together our incredible collection of stories and experiences from across the company for a broad audience in ways we have only dreamed of before. Epic Games’ industry-leading technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem will help us reach consumers where they are so they can engage with Disney in the ways that are most relevant to them.”

Disney and Epic Games has long been engaged with hundreds of millions of players through Fortnite content integrations, season collaborations, in-game activations, and live events, including the Marvel Nexus War with Galactus, which drew more than 15.3 million concurrent players.

New Delhi, India – The global development institution that focuses on the private sector in developing countries, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and two investment funds managed by IFC Asset Management Company – IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund and IFC Emerging Asia Fund – have made a US$126m (₹916 crores) equity investment in Federal Bank Limited (FBL), India’s private sector bank.

The investment aims to increase financing for climate-friendly projects and small businesses, helping accelerate the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic. Through this, FBL will be expanding its MSME and climate finance portfolios, which are keys to growth opportunities.

Federal Bank’s CEO and Managing Director, Shyam Srinivasan, shared that after the bank’s board approved the issuance of shares to the IFC group to an extent of 4.99% of the bank’s paid-up capital, IFC has become a significant shareholder of the bank. 

“The addition of this marquee name to the list of our prominent shareholders reinforces the trust and confidence reposed by the IFC group on the bank and its management. The infusion of quality capital further strengthens Tier 1 and overall CAR of the bank,” said Srinivasan.

Meanwhile, Roshika Singh, IFC’s acting country manager for India, commented that the move is in line with IFC’s strategy to support green growth by spurring investments, seizing the opportunities to help the country.

“The investment is also expected to create tens of thousands of jobs, with MSMEs gaining access to much-needed financing, which will also help ensure an inclusive recovery,” said Singh.

IFC has also announced that the investment marks the institution’s first in India aligned with the Greening Equity Approach, which will enable FBL to reduce its exposure to coal and increase its climate lending. 

With Federal Bank’s focus on ESG, IFC will also be consulting with the bank on developing a new Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) that will be applied to its entire portfolio. To further strengthen FBL’s environmental and social sustainability (E&S) capacity, IFC will also be implementing an E&S technical advisory program. 

In addition, under the World Bank Group (WBG) Climate Change Action Plan, IFC will be putting climate action at the heart of its development work. The institution will also be working to align investments with the goals of the Paris Agreement, intensifying support to help clients decarbonize, and deploying standards and tools to catalyze private sector financing for the climate.