A consortium organized by Tencent, a Chinese tech giant, and Supercell, the Finnish mobile game maker known for Clash of Clans announced that the Chinese consortium will
purchase 84% of SuperCell, valuing the company at about $10.2 billion.
Tencent will control a 50% voting interest within the consortium. Former Supercell owner SoftBank will no longer own any
shares in the company at all.
“It is important to us that Supercell stays true to its roots by sustaining its unique culture, continuing to be headquartered in Finland, and representing
its home proudly,” stated Martin Lau, President of Tencent.
This marks yet another big-ticket purchase of a company led by a Chinese company or group. Mobile game revenues are expected
to surpass console and PC gaming for the first time in 2016.
Tencent also owns a 100% stake in Riot Games, the makers of League of Legends, and some reports suggest the company owns 13% of the
global gaming market.
“Over the past six years, we’ve created four top games that are now played by over 100 million people every single day. Tencent’s investment secures
what has made all of this possible, which is our independence and unique culture of small and independent teams… this new partnership offers us exciting growth opportunities in China, where we
will be able to reach hundreds of millions of new gamers via Tencent’s channels,” stated Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell.