The Chinese giant Tencent continues to expand its presence around the world with a new acquisition on European territory, that of Sumo Digital, the British team responsible for games such as Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Crackdown 3, Team Sonic Racing and many other games for dozens. of editors. The operation will be carried out by $ 1.27 billion.
Tencent, which currently controls 8.75% of Sumo Digital’s shares as the second largest investor, has reached an agreement with the British company’s shareholders whereby each will receive 513 cents in cash per share, a 43% premium. about the latest price and valuation of the company at 919 million pounds, Tencent said, which will make Sumo shares rise 42%, setting a new individual record (via Reuters).
“The Sumo Board strongly believes that the company will benefit from Tencent’s broad gaming ecosystem, proven industry expertise and strategic resources,” said Non-Executive Chairman Ian Livingstone. “The opportunity to work with Tencent is one we could not miss,” said Carl Cavers, founder of Sumo Digital for 18 years and current top man of the company. He, as well as co-founders Paul Porter and Darren Mills will continue to hold the same positions as before.
Apart from owning Riot Games, creators of League of Legends, and a good part of Epic Games, Tencent has been acquiring different studios throughout the globe in recent years, as well as making investments in other studios such as Platinum Games, creators of Nier: Automata. In this way, Tencent is already the second company in the world with the highest turnover in the video game sector below Sony.
Compared to other large acquisitions in the past two years, Sumo Digital has cost Tencent six times more than Insomniac Games cost Sony, but well below the 7.5 billion Microsoft paid for Bethesda last year. .