NetDragon Acquires JumpStart to Expand Its Online Communities

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Jul 03, 2017, 23:00 ET

HONG KONG, July 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon" or the "Company"; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that it successfully acquired JumpStart, a Los Angeles based provider of educational products which specialise in creative and educational games for K-12 children.

Dr. Simon Leung, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of NetDragon said, "The acquisition of JumpStart has been completed today and I am very excited about including JumpStart as a subsidiary to the NetDragon family. It is a perfect example of NetDragon's expertise in combining and utilising both education and gaming businesses. The excellent management team led by David Lord, CEO of JumpStart, has built very impressive and popular educational games that are extremely valuable additions to NetDragon's product offerings. Through this acquisition, we will tap into their excellent relationship with DreamWorks and utilise their IPs to enhance our existing products. We believe this strategic acquisition will open up tremendous opportunities for both NetDragon and JumpStart to offer innovative and world-class learning products to our users."

Founded in 1991, JumpStart has set the standard in children's educational games by making learning fun and easy. Over the years, JumpStart has created numerous successful own-branded games such as JumpStart®, Math Blaster® and Neopets®. Neopets® in particular has recorded over 75 million registered users. Besides its flagship brands, it has also built long-standing partnerships with DreamWorks Animation, leveraging on its IPs including Madagascar and School of Dragons, to produce creative and innovative educational mobile and multiplayer online games. The School of Dragons game is based on "How to Train Your Dragon" Movies and has registered over 30 million players globally. JumpStart currently has a large audience base of over 5 million monthly active users which spans across North America, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania, along with over 90 million registered accounts.

NetDragon has deep expertise in building online communities, especially in the areas of gaming and education. Combining its knowledge and experience in online gaming and education, and transferring such expertise in building other online communities can unlock great potential and value for the company.

"We feel privileged to become a part of an organization that has such passion about education and expertise in building business through online technologies platforms. We believe JumpStart's existing products and related IPs complement NetDragon's products and services extremely well. We look forward to working with such a talented and passionate team," said David Lord.

About NetDragon Websoft

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities. Established in 1999, NetDragon is a vertically integrated, cutting-edge R&D powerhouse with a highly successful track record which includes the development of flagship MMORPGs including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved (formerly known as Calibur of Spirit) and Conquer Online. The company also established China's number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu in 2013 in what was at the time the largest Internet M&A transaction in China. Being China's pioneer in overseas expansion, NetDragon also directly operates a number of game titles in over 10 languages internationally since 2003. In recent years, NetDragon has emerged as a major player in the global online and mobile learning space as it works to leverage its mobile Internet technologies and operational know-how to develop a game-changing learning ecosystem. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.

About JumpStart

JumpStart is the leader in learning-based games for kids. Through its own brands, as well as partner brands, like DreamWorks, JumpStart creates epically fun, learning-based games for kids of all ages. The reality is that kids today seek entertainment through gaming, yet the vast majority of kids' games do absolutely nothing to inspire their minds through learning. JumpStart gives kids a learning edge through epically fun gameplay. The company partners with world-renowned brands to develop various educational mobile and web browser games including Madagascar and School of Dragons®, the ever-popular educational massively multiplayer online role-playing game. JumpStart Games is a privately held based in Torrance, CA. For more information, visit www.JumpStart.com.

NetDragon Press Contact
Joseph Lo: +852 9850 5033
Karin Wong: +852 9755 6265
[email protected]

Investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266/ +86 591 8754 3120
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website: www.nd.com.cn/ir
JumpStart Press Contact
Jennifer Brogan
Tel: O: 617.904.9393 x136/ C: 617.913.4993
[email protected]