Ex-ABC head Michelle Guthrie joins Mighty Kingdom

Former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has come on board an Adelaide gaming business with plans to list on the sharemarket.

Mighty Kingdom founder Phil Mayes has always had plans for a public listing. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has been appointed chair of an Adelaide gaming business with plans to list on the sharemarket next year.

Mighty Kingdom also said on Wednesday it had raised $4m in pre-IPO funding from institutional, family and sophisticated investors.

The money was raised through a convertible note, offering a discount on an initial public offer likely early next year.

Mighty Kingdom’s plans follow that of bigger Victorian rival Playside Studios, which lists on the sharemarket this week.

Former ABC chief Michelle Guthrie will be Mighty Kingdom’s guiding force.

The money will allow the business to fund larger projects and develop its own games to drive ambitious plans to more than double annual revenues

Mighty Kingdom generated $2.8m in revenues in the past financial year, and expects to get to between $5m and $12m this financial year.

“I am very impressed with the team that has grown Mighty Kingdom to be industry leaders in Australia, built on a foundation of strong culture and vision,” said Ms Guthrie, who was sacked from her role at the ABC in 2018, halfway through her five-year contract.

“It is an honour to join the company as chair to guide what is anticipated to be an exciting period of growth and transformation.”

Since 2010, Mighty Kingdom has created games – for mobile, console and PC platforms – to fuel the digital reach of some of the world’s leading mobile, toy and entertainment giants, including Snapchat, Disney, LEGO, Sony and Moose Toy (Shopkins).

In the past decade, Mighty Kingdom has released more than 20 games played by more than 50m people across multiple platforms.

Mighty Kingdom founder and chief executive officer Phil Mayes owns 73 per cent of the business, followed by private equity investor Alium Alpha Fund with 20 per cent.

The independent game studio, employing 75 staff, wants to gain a bigger share of a thriving global games market, forecast to be worth some $US350 billion by 2025.

“We are thrilled with the response from the pre-IPO capital raise, which has attracted a range of high-quality investors to enable and support Mighty Kingdom’s journey to become a publicly listed company,” Mr Mayes said.

“We are now well positioned to embark on the next phase of our development.”

Former PwC Australia partner Megan Brownlow has been appointed non-executive director.

CCZ Stratton Securities acted as lead manager and Adelaide Equity Partners acted as

corporate advisor to the company.