It even has a minority stake in Krafton Game Union, which publishes Fortnite’s competitor, PUBG. Finnish mobile games maker Supercell will now have Tencent’s backing as it pushes more aggressively into China’s online gaming market. In 2003, Sumea made a profit of 1.2 million euros. Supercell - 84.3 percent: Tencent's $8.6 billion dollar investment in this Finnish mobile developer is one of the biggest purchases in videogame history. Tencent's headquarters is currently the Tencent Binhai Mansion, also known as the Tencent Seafront Towers, which is located in Shenzhen's Nanshan District. Clash of Clans is a war strategy game in which players build fortresses, form clans and battle it out with other clans in a Medieval-style fantasy world. SoftBank is seeking to bolster its finances following its 2013 acquisition of a majority stake in struggling U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp S.N. Tencent will acquire about 84.3 percent of Supercell via a wholly-owned consortium, including all of SoftBank’s 72.2 percent stake, it said on Tuesday. Its mobile game, Honour of Kings, brought in an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue, according to Nielsen’s SuperData. Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jane Merriman. BEIJING/HELSINKI/TOKYO (Reuters) - China's biggest gaming group Tencent Holdings Ltd 0700.HK is to buy a majority stake in 'Clash of Clans' mobile game maker Supercell from SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T in a deal valued at roughly $8.6 billion. Tencent's largest shareholder is Prosus (majority owned by Naspers), which owns 30.99% shares. Kodisoja co-founded Sumea in 1999, and Paananen was hired as the company's CEO in 2000. “This deal enables us to keep Supercell privately held. The consortium will open up to co-investors, though Tencent expects to maintain a 50 percent voting interest, it said. Tencent Holdings is the largest mobile game distributor in terms of revenue, and one of its key purchases on the way to global mobile dominance was its … The company has a 48% stake in Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, the global sensation that SuperData estimates earned $2.4 billion in 2018. For Japanese internet and telecoms group SoftBank, the Tencent deal will mark its third major asset reshuffle in the past month. The Japanese group this month said it would sell $10 billion worth of shares in China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N to cut debt. Further Reading: Tencent entirely owns League of Legends-creator Riot Games, which recently announced its first new games in a decade. SoftBank said the latest sale would yield a return of around 2.9 times its original investment. Supercell, the Finnish mobile gaming unit of Tencent Holdings, lost its patent dispute case in the US against Japanese company Gree. Founded in 2010, Supercell develops popular mobile games like. It expects to book a 600 billion yen ($5.74 billion) pre-tax profit this financial year from the sale, it said. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. Kodisoja, the firm's creative director left the company in 2010, followed soon after by Paanan… Is Supercell owned by Tencent? The Japanese group this month said it would sell $10 billion worth of shares in China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, SoftBank: Supercell stake to yield pre-tax profit of 600 billion yen, SoftBank founder's heir apparent Nikesh Arora to quit. In June 2016, a Luxembourg consortium, which included Tencent, acquired an 81.4% interest in Supercell at a valuation of $10.2 billion. With just 180 employees, Supercell had pre-tax profit of 880 million euros and sales of 2.1 billion euros ($2.38 billion) last year, putting the six-year-old firm among Finland’s biggest companies measured by earnings. I. I cover breaking news and also report on the video game industry. Tencent owns 80% of Supercell, the studio that made Clash of Clans Small, single-digit stakes in Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, PlatinumGames, and … The purchase will expand Tencent’s interests overseas, as the Chinese video game and social network group still relies mainly on its home market even though it has stakes in various foreign studios like Epic Games and Riot Games. However, that figure is down from a 2015 peak of $5.5 million daily, which would help explain Supercell’s year-over-year dip to revenues of $1.6 billion and profits of $635 million in 2018, as reported by the company. I previously wrote for sites like IGN, Polygon, Red Bull eSports, Kill Screen, Playboy and PC Gamer. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. I also managed a YouTube gaming channel under the name strummerdood. It expects to book a 600 billion yen ($5.74 billion) pre-tax profit this financial year from the sale, it said. In the following year, the American Digital Chocolatebought Sumea and made the company its Finnish headquarters and Paananen the European manager. I cover breaking news and also report on the video game industry. You may opt-out by, EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation BrandVoice. That is a better match with our small size and unique culture than being a public company where our concern would be the pressure from financial markets to think short term,” he said. Supercell, also creator of ‘Boom Beach’ and ‘Hay Day’, has a handful of successful games and gets revenue from in-game purchases, helping it to avoid the problems faced by the likes of rival Rovio Entertainment, which has failed to create a new hit game since its 2009 launch of Angry Birds. I graduated with a BA in journalism from Rowan University and interned at Philadelphia Magazine. Supercell Oy, or Supercell, is a mobile development firm that is based in Helsinki, Finland. Before Supercell, two of its founders, Mikko Kodisoja and Ilkka Paananen, worked at Sumea, a mobile game company. However, Ma Huateng, co-founder of Tencent, still owns a significant stake. The sale is one of the world’s biggest ever gaming deals. By Paul Carsten, Jussi Rosendahl, Ritsuko Ando. Tencent will acquire about 84.3 percent of Supercell via a wholly-owned consortium, including all of SoftBank’s 72.2 percent stake, it said on Tuesday. In June 2016, a Luxembourg consortium, which included Tencent, acquired an 81.4% interest in Supercell at a valuation of $10.2 billion. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. BEIJING/HELSINKI/TOKYO (Reuters) - China's biggest gaming group Tencent Holdings Ltd, is to buy a majority stake in 'Clash of Clans' mobile game maker Supercell from SoftBank Group Corp. in a deal valued at roughly $8.6 billion. SoftBank said the latest sale would yield a return of around 2.9 times its original investment. You can follow me on Twitter @mattryanperez. Independent financial analyst Richard Windsor said: “Clash of Clans has been constantly in the top 5 grossing apps ... for a very long time, making this a great platform (for Tencent) from which to begin building a position in developed markets.”. Topline: Chinese internet giant Tencent added to its massive gaming portfolio this week by attaining majority control over Helsinki-based Supercell, the studio behind Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. Photo: Handout Tencent Holdings In a surprise move, SoftBank also said on Tuesday President Nikesh Arora would resign at its Wednesday shareholder meeting, less than two years after he joined the group. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Supercell’s current management will keep their operational independence and the company will remain in Finland. So technically, Finland is the country behind Clash of Clans’ existence but it is now owned by Tencent, a Chinese firm. CEO Ilkka Paananen said Supercell participated in the search of a new partner and had also considered a flotation.