Tencent is allegedly shifting its M&A strategy to “aggressively” focus on “buying majority stakes mainly in overseas gaming companies.”
As reported by Reuters, this change is in part due to Tencent’s attempt to battle the slowing growth in its home country of China.
In the past, Tencent had focused on acquiring minority stakes in gaming companies as a passive financial investor, but this new initiative will see them seeking to own majority or “even controlling stakes” in companies outside of China. Four people with knowledge of the matter have also said it may be primarily targeting “gaming assets in Europe.”
Tencent, which is the “world’s number one gaming firm by revenue,” is additionally looking at companies that are working on the metaverse.
Part of this plan showed its face in August when another report from Reuters said Tencent was wanting to become Ubisoft’s biggest shareholder and up its current 5% investment in the company behind Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry, and more. In early September, it raised its stake to 11%.
This news also arrives in a time rife with major acquisitions, including Microsoft’s deal to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion and Sony’s deal to purchase Bungie for $3.6 billion.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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