Tencent could be lining up to buy Supercell - at a $9bn valuation
World's biggest games company in talks with Softbank to purchase 73% share, say reports
Supercell's majority owner SoftBank, long rumoured to be preparing to sell its 73.2% share in the developer, is reportedly in negotiation with Tencent.
Tencent, already the world's biggest games company, could pay a price for the shares which would value the company at over $9 billion, according to sources at Reuters. If so, the price would be hugely in excess of the $5 billion previously estimated and the $5.5 billion valuation established by SoftBank itself in 2015.
Various news sources have reported that Tencent is in talks with a number of funds and investors with regard to putting together a conglomerate to fund the purchase, including Hillhouse Capital Group. Tencent already owns League of Legend developer Riot and has a majority share in Epic and a minority stake in Activision Blizzard.
SoftBank itself is currently attempting to ameliorate some debt with a number of sales, including the return of $680 million worth of stock to GungHo.