Koch Media acquires Gaya Entertainment

Koch Media, the German-Austrian media company, has continued its recent expansion by purchasing Gaya Entertainment.

Gaya Entertainment is a German merchandise producer and distributor. The company currently employs around 30 staff and have a decade of experience in the gaming industry that Koch clearly believe will add value to existing and future Koch gaming ventures.

Koch CEO Klemens Kundratitz explained the thinking behind the move and the logic is easy to follow. Koch believe the move will help “compliment our video games offering to retail with game merchandise.”

The company has cleared noted that popularity of figurines and other forms of merchandise that compliment games, for example Nintendo’s amiibos. While Koch already has “long-standing relationships with other game merchandise companies,” Kundratitz and others at Koch clearly feel that bringing these services in house can add value.

Indeed, Koch highlighted in their statement recent growth in Gaya’s yearly turnover, from 3.9m euros in 2017 to 6.3m euros in 2018, as evidence of an upward trend.

Koch, of course, was itself acquired by THQ Nordic AB in 2018. This hasn’t negatively impacted their own expansion plans: they recently acquired Italian developer Milestone, who specialize in racing games, and have also announced that they plan to open an office in Poland.

The company have recently sought to build their business in Poland and Kundratitz is a firm believer that to make an impact in a market you must have a presence there, even in today’s digital age.

“For us, Poland was a missing piece in the jigsaw of Europe,” Kundratitz said. “Despite some markets having a decline of the physical business it doesn’t stop us needing local representation.”

Koch also recently moved into the Australian market, purchasing Aussie distributor 18Point2 in February this year, highlighting the “general growth strategy” Kundratitz referred to in his press release.

Koch Media are clearly a company to watch, a significant player in the European market with a keen eye for expansion opportunities.