Basingstoke, United Kingdom based developer and publisher Deep Silver released a statement earlier today denying rumors that parent company Koch Media is up for sale. According to Polygon, the rumor began with the publication of story in the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the German multinational media corporation had hired the investment bank UBS to locate a buyer for the company. In their official statement, Deep Silver noted that Koch is in fact “always on the lookout for responsible acquisition opportunities in the fields of publishing and distribution to accelerate our growth” and is not looking to sell any time in the foreseeable future.
Deep Silver, founded in 2002, is best known as the publisher of the Dead Island series. The British studio gained additional notoriety by purchasing the rights to several of American publisher THQ’s popular franchises following the corporation’s December 2012 bankruptcy. Most notable of the former THQ titles taken over by Deep Silver are Saints Row IV and Metro: Last Light, both released shortly after their acquisition in 2013, as well as Homefront: The Revolution, the upcoming sequel to Kaos Studio’s 2011 first person shooter Homefront based on early versions of Homefront 2, development of which stalled out due to THQ’s closure. In total, Deep Silver has published over 200 games across Europe in its history.
Established in 1994 in Planegg, Munich, Germany, Koch Media has acquired several smaller publishers in the years since its inception and now is responsible for the publication and distribution of a number of media products throughout Europe, including feature films and software as well as video games. In addition to Deep Silver, Koch also owns German mobile game developer Fishlabs Entertainment, responsible for the Galaxy on Fire series, and Champaign, Illinois based studio Volition, original developer of the Saints Row games as well as the Red Faction franchise. Given the size of its sphere of influence and the value of the company, rumors of its sale attracted considerable attention from both the investment community and consumers alike. For now, however, it seems that those rumors are unfounded and that neither Koch’s nor Deep Silver’s current plans will be disrupted by a potential sale.