Nasdaq resumes trading of Nexters shares, one year after halt

Mobile developer Nexters has announced that its shares are now back traded on the Nasdaq. This happened a year after the US stock exchange brought the trading of the company’s stock to a halt.

• All operations with Nexters ordinary shares and warrants were unfrozen on March 16.
• On February 28, 2022, Nasdaq halted trading in stocks of Russia-based companies, including Yandex, Qiwi, and Ozon. Nexters was also subject to this suspension despite being based in Cyprus.
• According to Nexters CEO and co-founder Andrey Fadeev, the company has been working for the past year to get permission to return to the Nasdaq.
• “Since Nexters’ inception in 2010, we shared a vision to be a global company with employees, partners and players across the world. Our listing on Nasdaq in 2021 was an important milestone and a foundation to our long term strategy,” Fadeev said in connection with the company’s return to the stock exchange.

After receiving halt status on the Nasdaq last year, the company went through a restructuring that included layoffs of 235 employees and major changes to its corporate governance.

Nexters announced its decision to relocate key employees from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus to Cyprus, Armenia, and other countries, and also sold its business in Russia, including Nexters Studio and Lightmap, for 500 rubles (around $6.5).

In August 2022, the company appointed Natasha Braginsky Mounier as the chairperson of the board of directors. She replaced Kisemt Acquisition One CEO Ivan Tavrin. Nexters also welcomed three new independent directors: Marie Holive (former senior audit manager at General Electric), Olga Loskutova (former Nestle and Whirlpool executive), and Tal Shoham (former COO of ironSource).

“Nexters has taken huge strides in improving corporate governance and strategic sustainability during a tumultuous year — all while maintaining the resiliency of its core business,” Braginsky Mounier stated on March 16. “We have proudly demonstrated rigorous adherence to the high standards of Nasdaq and SEC.”

Nexters went public through a SPAC deal with Kismet Acquisition One in August 2021 at a $1.9 billion valuation. Prior to the halt, it had a market cap of $1.25 billion.