Israeli mobile gaming company Moon Active said last week that it will acquire Belarus mobile games developer Melsoft. The deal’s financial terms were not disclosed.
Moon Active was founded in 2011. It has more than 650 employees, with the majority based in Israel and a large branch in Kyiv, Ukraine, as well as offices in London. The Israeli company is said to have had its most successful year ever in 2020.
Melsoft, whose headquarters is in Cyprus, has most of its 240-plus employees in Minsk, Belarus. It was founded in 2007 as a PC games developer, but began to develop mobile games in 2012. Some of the company’s most popular games include Family Island and MyCafe.
Coin Master is Moon Active’s most popular game. It was launched in 2015 and had its most successful year in 2020, with Moon Active doubling its revenue to USD 1.1 billion this year because of the game. According to Sensor Tower, which provides market intelligence and performance metrics for the mobile app industry, Coin Master is the fourth most lucrative game in the world in 2020, behind Pokémon Go, the company said in an announcement.
“Our target is to become the world’s most successful mobile gaming company and we are preparing to grow and expand our portfolio by developing new games and through acquisitions,” Moon Active CEO and founder Samuel Albin said.
New York-based venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partner bought a 10% stake in the Israeli company in January 2020.
This article first appeared in NoCamels, which covers innovations from Israel for a global audience.