Curve Digital and Testronic acquired by Northedge Capital for £90m

Private equity firm Northedge Capital has acquired the Catalis Group, which is comprised of industry stalwarts Curve Digital and Testronic. The purchase valued the company at a total of £90 million. With an aim to build the group into a world-class outfit. 

Catalis, having been led by CEO Dominic Wheatley since 2012, is separated into three divisions: Testronic, Catalis and Kuju. Testronic provides quality assurance to the global games, film and TV markets. Meanwhile Curve, which Catalis acquired in 2016, is the award-winning publisher behind games such as Human Fall Flat, the company’s biggest hit having sold 5m units of the title, and Autonauts, which won MCV’s Ukie UK Game of the show at this year’s Gamescom.

The company has also signed on to publish titles based on popular TV licences, such as the upcoming Narcos: Rise of the Cartels and an as-yet untitled Peaky Blinders game. And early this year acquired Bomber Crew develop Runner Duck. The publisher won the MCV Indie Games Publisher of the Year 2019 as well. 

Regarding the acquisition, Catalis CEO Dominic Wheatley stated: “This is an important move for us. Bringing NorthEdge in to help us grow and continuing to enjoy the support of Vespa Capital is a strong endorsement from two private equity houses. Our ambition is to build the next major UK owned games business to rival those based in other parts of the world. We have the right team and financial backing to take Catalis to the next level.”