One of the worlds largest video game conglomerate’s has been put on an interesting notice. Saudi Arabia has officially acquired a stake in the company to the sweet sum of $1 billion. The stake was made by Savvy Gaming Group, which is a subsidiary of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Public Investment Fund. With this new stake in the company, Saudi Arabia is now the second largest shareholder of Embracer Group. It’s also worth noting that despite the $1 billion purchase, those shares only amount to 8.1% of the company.
Embracer Group’s Founder and CEO Lars Wingefors released a statement on this new stake in the company, showing optimism and and excitement over the new “relationship.” Our relationship with Savvy Gaming Group will enable us to set up a regional hub in Saudi Arabia, from which we will be able to make investments across the MENA region, either organically, via partnerships, joint ventures, or via acquisitions of companies led by strong entrepreneurs.” Wingefors also states that the market from entities based in Saudi Arabia has been fast growing with “more active gamers than either the US or Western Europe.”
This isn’t the first time that Saudi Arabia’s investment fund has made stakes in other companies. They’ve purchased a 96% in SNK, which essentially made them the majority owners of the company, and most recently acquired 5% stake in Nintendo, making them the 5th largest shareholder of the company. They also have minor stakes in Capcom as well as Nexon for a combined value of $1 billion. It’s an insane testament to Embracer Group’s overall value on the market when Saudi Arabia’s stake doesn’t even equate to 10% of the companies shares. This thanks to the mammoth amount of studios and publishers that they’ve acquired over the years, and they don’t plan on stopping any time soon.