India’s gaming ecosystem is witnessing a massive reconfiguration of power. In a series of high-octane block and bulk deals executed on Friday, Zerodha Broking Ltd and Axana Estates acquired significant chunks of India’s only listed gaming major, Nazara Technologies.
The transactions, totaling over ₹486 crore, saw shares change hands at an average price of ₹265.85 apiece, triggering a sharp double-digit rally in Nazara’s stock on the bourses.
The Buyers: Double Down and Deepening Bets
Nithin and Nikhil Kamath are no strangers to Nazara. The Zerodha co-founders already held a sizeable personal stake in the gaming company before this transaction. This time, the brokerage entity itself, *Zerodha Broking Ltd, stepped in to purchase over 35 lakh shares, bringing its deployment value to a cool *₹93.05 crore**.
Simultaneously, the biggest mover of the day was *Axana Estates, which aggressively consolidated its footprint by acquiring a massive 1.48 crore shares in a block deal worth *₹392.9 crore**.
Axana Estates is a powerhouse partnership combining the venture focus of CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti and Plutus Wealth Management’s Arpit Khandelwal. The duo has been consistently bullish on Nazara’s multi-pronged growth across esports, ad tech, and freemium gaming.
The Sellers: Restructuring the Promoter Core
The supply side of this mega-deal was driven entirely by Nazara’s promoter-group entity, *Mitter Infotech LLP*.
The entity executed a structured divestment, offloading 42 lakh shares on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and another 1.51 crore shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). At the end of the March quarter, Mitter Infotech held 2.26 crore shares, translating to a 6.09% stake. This massive market liquidation cleanly offloads a major chunk of that direct holding into stronger, long-term institutional and strategic hands.
Why Nazara is Suddenly the Hottest Board on the Street
While the share movement indicates a shifting of chairs at the promoter level, the timing of these institutional entries is hard to ignore.
The bulk deals closely follow Nazara’s stellar Q4 earnings report, which turned heads across D-Street. Despite structural shifts in the broader gaming sector, the company reported a massive *13-fold jump in net profit*, surging to ₹56 crore compared to just ₹4 crore in the previous fiscal’s matching quarter.
Furthermore, Nazara’s aggressive global M&A strategy—including its recent landmark $100 million acquisition of Spain-based gaming studio Bluetile Games—has set the stage for an artificial intelligence-driven push into international markets.
With legacy founders streamlining their exposure and hyper-growth investors like the Kamaths and Mithun Sacheti picking up the slack, Nazara’s institutional backing looks more robust than ever as it eyes its next phase of global expansion.
