Acquisition news pushes Keyword Studios shares upwards

AIM-listed software development services provider Keyword Studios (LON:KWS) has seen its share price rise by 3.05% to 1,758p (as of 14:30 BST) after it announced the acquisition of a specialist in audio-descriptive services for broadcast and streaming content. The consideration for the purchase of Descriptive Video Works is CAD3.2 million, of which CAD2.24 million is in cash and the remainder shares.

CEO Andrew Day said: “In 2018, Keywords and Descriptive Video Works collaborated on a transcreation project in which a major video game franchise was made ready for OTT streaming in an interactive format and we were really impressed by both the team’s capabilities and how well we worked together.

“We are delighted to welcome Diane and the talented DVW team to the Keywords family. We are looking forward to supporting the accessibility needs of the film, TV and video-games industry as these markets continue to develop. Our voice over studios around the world will be looking at ways in which they can work with Diane and her team to bring audio description production to European, South American and Asian markets.

“The acquisition of DVW also provides Keywords with its first studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, a city with very active involvement in film, television and video games and we hope to grow our presence there accordingly“.