China's Tencent will buy Clash of Clans developer Supercell for $8.6 billion

By Rich Edmonds
published

China-based internet giant Tencent Holdings will join partners to pay $8.6 billion to purchase an 84.3% stake in Supercell, the Finnish developer responsible for titles including Clash of Clans. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the developer is valued at $10.2 billion and is the latest investment by Tencent who also owns Riot, developer of massively-popular League of Legends.

From the report:

"Because the purchase is occurring in stages, Tencent has sufficient funds to pay for the initial purchase, the people said. The Chinese internet giant is also planning to raise additional debt secured by Supercell's assets to help cover some of the acquisition costs, they said. Supercell was valued at roughly $5.25 billion last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. SoftBank first bought a 51% stake in the Finnish gaming company for $1.53 billion in 2013. Last year, SoftBank raised its stake to 73% but didn't disclose the price of the transaction."

Tencent has stated that Supercell's current management would retain operational independence to continue developing published titles as they see fit. The deal is set to be set in stone sometime in Q3 2016, subject to regulatory approvals.

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

30 Comments
  • And then they will develop a UWP version for windows 10...
  • And then they will develop a UWP version for windows 10...
  • It would be great. I don't like this game, but for many people, another dealbraker goes away, so they'll have one less reason to not come to Windows.
  • UWP? Exactly!!
  • I don't think so. They will continue to run independent as mentioned in the article. They didn't make it then, no extra chances of making it now.
  • How's attitude of Tencent towards Windows and MSFT? Can we expect a UWP for clash of clans?
  • probably not. they have said they dont have any plans to update wechat for windows 10 and that's their biggest app
  • They "said" but right after they removed the page where they said they'll not update WeChat. Also, recents leaks suggesting, WeChat UWP is in finishing mode
  • Well, that kind of game would have a great market on PCs and Tablets too.
  • ^This. Wisest comment of the day
  • Last I checked there is some dispute with Chinese gov and MS. If that clears up and adoption of windows 10 is high. A UWP of wechat would be a probable outcome.
  • At this point, at least I don't care.  I'm plenty happy with Cloud Raiders.
  • Rumor has that Supercell had its games incoming to Windows mobile with project Astoria and games were performing well. Would not have been optimal solution but better than dead platform.
  • Another reason why project astoria should never have been shelved!
  • I'm confused as to why this article is on Windows Central when nothing about it involves Windows. Is this suggesting that will change?
  • I hope they port coc to w10m ..
  • I play this game on iPod an have windows mobile..please bring it on windows platform so I play on windows too
  • What's there for us? We don't have Clash of clans game on Windows. And I don't care.
  • Make clash of clans for windows.
  • Highly doubt that this is going to come to Windows even with this new owner.  The main point is: Supercell's management will retain operational independence to continue developing titles as they see fit.  As of last report from them, they do not plan on bringing it to Windows.
  • Today morning I just tweeted that Microsoft should buy Supercell.
  • I think Nadella will be busy with LinkedIn fiasco until booted.
  • don't care about COC but I hope they bring HayDay with them.
  • $8.6 billion is a lofty sum for a company named after a dime.
  • How will tencent will take profit from 8.6billion investment in just this game ??
  • Well its not just one game they bought but majority stake of the developer. Supercell made 1 billion $ profit last year. Nadella paid 26 billions for unprofitable social network.
  • They want LinkedIn's database. Linkedin is all about business and everyone on it is on it for business related reasons and since Microsoft is really focusing on that sector, they could use that sort of database as well as any analytics that come out of it. On that note, 26 billion does sound pricey but surely they know better we do about what's worth that sort of money.
  • I'm waiting
  • After that coc will available in windows 10 phones?
  • Though its too late