Embracer Group: Embracer buys Tomb Raider, Deus Ex & more
Embracer Group acquires Square Enix development studios: Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal & Square Enix Montréal plus their brands – Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain. For 285 million euros.
That’s a pound! Three large studios, eight locations and around 1,100 employees will soon belong to the Swedish media group Embracer, which has been on a shopping spree for a while. According to press release “Total purchase price is $300 million on a cash, debt free basis, payable in full at closing.” Above all, the two most important brands affected by the purchase, Tomb Raider (88 million games sold so far) and Deus Ex (12 million), make the purchase price appear surprisingly low at first glance.
Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO of Embracer Group, is enthusiastic: “We are extremely pleased to welcome these studios to the Embracer family. We value their brands, creative talent and outstanding track record that they have consistently demonstrated over the past several decades. It has been a great pleasure to have their Meeting leadership teams and making future plans on how to achieve their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer.”
Square Enix did the acquisition in one of its own press release already commented and states that “the transaction will help the company to adapt to global changes (…) and to ensure accelerated growth in the company’s core business, the entertainment sector”. In addition, the sale enables increased “investments in areas such as blockchain, AI and cloud.”
The core business of Square Enix is: the in-house studios in Japan, the Square Enix External Studios and the Square Enix Collective. The significantly streamlined squad of important brands now consists of Just Cause, Outriders and Life is Strange.
Reference-www.4players.de
