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Bloomberg: SoftBank considering sale of Supercell. Could be $5B+.

A

ashecitism

Member
Update:
1st Course said:
Seems like the buyer is Tencent

http://www.wsj.com/articles/tencent...-in-clash-of-clans-maker-supercell-1463987609
Click to expand...

--

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...eigh-sale-of-finnish-game-developer-supercell

SoftBank Group Corp. is considering a sale of its stake in Supercell Oy after receiving interest in the Finnish gaming company, according to people familiar with the matter.

Supercell, which makes games for mobile phones including Clash of Clans and Boom Beach, has held talks with potential strategic buyers based in China, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The process is at an early stage and SoftBank may choose not to sell the stake, they said.

A sale could value the whole of Supercell at more than $5 billion, one of the people said.
Click to expand...

SoftBank acquired a majority stake in the Helsinki-based developer for about $1.5 billion in 2013. It increased its stake to 73 percent in May last year, according to a statement. The rest of the company is owned by Supercell’s management and employees.

Supercell has struggled to translate the global popularity of Clash of Clans into subscriber numbers in SoftBank’s home country of Japan, a market that rivals the U.S. in size. Buddy Marini, the head of Supercell’s Japan operations, has called the country “the toughest market in the world.”
Click to expand...
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Supercell has struggled to translate the global popularity of Clash of Clans into subscriber numbers in SoftBank’s home country of Japan, a market that rivals the U.S. in size. Buddy Marini, the head of Supercell’s Japan operations, has called the country “the toughest market in the world.”
Click to expand...

Clash of Cuties incoming.
 
E

eFKac

Member
From what I've seen on Google Play Supercell has actually a couple consecutive hits unlike King, and that went for like 5 billion, maybe Activision just overpayed.
 
M

_machine

Member
Not a surprising valuation; Supercell has definitely proven (with Boom Beach and Clash Royale) that they know their way around the mobile and will continue to make more 1 billion+ titles. Their pedigree, talent and cell-structure without managers will definitely survive the industry for years to come. That said, I don't expect them to penetrate the Japanese market all that well (even if they strive to make truly global titles) so maybe SoftBank is on to something if they really want to focus on domestic market only.

Arsenic said:
Probably because its a brain-dead game that lacks any creativity. Cant have both of those faults in Japan
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That's tough words for one of the worlds most played games, and one that essentially raised the whole genre to new heights on mobile. Not to mention the art style, the marketing, the social focus all which were leaps and bounds above anything seen on mobile before it, and very creative for its time.
 
D

Delusibeta

Banned
You also have to remember that mobile game companies has a fairly short shelf life. I suspect King will be a disaster for Activision in the long run, and I think SoftBank would be wise to cash out before the decline sets in.
 
M

_machine

Member
Delusibeta said:
You also have to remember that mobile game companies has a fairly short shelf life. I suspect King will be a disaster for Activision in the long run, and I think SoftBank would be wise to cash out before the decline sets in.
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Not true. Mobile game companies will stay here for a long time and speaking of a "bubble" is ridiculous when there's still some potential growth and that the companies are serving hundreds of millions of customers (just Supercell alone has more than 100 million daily players). King's been around since 2003 and even though CCS might be declining eventually and that they are diversifying, many of the mobile game companies have good growth potential. Supercell will definitely prove you wrong too (I mean just look at how they are run and their porftfolio, and revenues), and it's not the reason why SoftBank is even considering selling them. It's because they want to focus on their domestic market, and feel they are better off selling foreign assets and doubling on their core market.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
Worth noting when comparing King and Supercell is that while King mostly produces variants on the same puzzle, each new Supercell game takes on a new game mechanic, new social mechanic, and often a new genre too.

Take Clash Royale for example. It's a completely new style of a game for them, bringing MOBA to mobile in a way that is approachable for the masses, and offers a more real-time and esports driven experience compared to their previous games.

So in a way their success is more organisational and cultural, they have built a team that knows how to build hit games. In that sense they share more with Nintendo or Pixar than King.
 
A

Atomski

Member
I feel like a simple art swap to something more anime like and Japan would be all over these games.

Even as an American these games look awful.
 
N

nampad

Member
Hahaha at those gaffers posting shit about Supercell while they just made another monster game. Sorry, but at this point they have proven not to be one hit wonders.
 
A

Ashtar

Member
Never played clash of clans but clash royale is pretty damn good. I think they have talent as a developer even if the gating is pretty annoying
 
F

Forkball

Member
Softbank owns Supercell?! First I've heard of this.

And how is the mobile market in China? What games are popular there?
 
T

tanooki27

Member
pompidu said:
COC and COR are both terrible games. Extremely boring, passive gameplay where everything is gated off by time (unless you like wasting money).
Click to expand...

they're way less passive/gated than games like mobile strike and game of war. supercell's stuff is more in the right direction - more tactile and gamelike. I know I just pulled the comparison outta my butt but it's the lesser of two evils in terms of mobile time wasters
 
S

Sarek

Member
Wonder how the people at Supercell feel about this. I remember them saying that they sold the shares to SoftBank specifically because they saw SoftBank as a long term partner who wasn't just trying to make a quick buck.
 
P

pompidu

Member
tanooki27 said:
they're way less passive/gated than games like mobile strike and game of war. supercell's stuff is more in the right direction - more tactile and gamelike. I know I just pulled the comparison outta my butt but it's the lesser of two evils in terms of mobile time wasters
Click to expand...

It's like comparing dog shit to cat shit. They are both piles of shit.

Both games involve 30 secs of half assed game play until the time gate shows up.

If people enjoy playing with shit, I guess that's on them.
 
J

Jonbo298

Member
Cash out while the mobile company is at its peak. Smart business move when looking at the history of other
formerly
mega popular mobile games companies.
 
H

Henkka

Banned
Supercell has struggled to translate the global popularity of Clash of Clans into subscriber numbers in SoftBank’s home country of Japan, a market that rivals the U.S. in size. Buddy Marini, the head of Supercell’s Japan operations, has called the country “the toughest market in the world.”
Click to expand...
Make it less like this:
a96e376ae34cc6bae1d66594d73fc36f.jpg
Click to expand...
And more like this:
63980350553f4022166e64264642e286.jpg
Click to expand...

You're welcome.
 
A

ashecitism

Member
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-05-16-softbank-rumoured-to-be-considering-supercell-sale

Since SoftBank's investment, Supercell has since made a public point of paying its taxes in full, eschewing any form of tax 'optimisation' and taking out a double page in a national paper to thank the government for its support in helping to build the firm, saying how proud it was to be able to give something back to help ensure that others received the same benefits. Supercell executives Mikko Kodisoja and Ilkka Paananen paid €54 million each after the acquisition, the single highest individual tax contributions in Finnish history. Between them and a number of other well-remunerated Supercell executives, the company is thought to be directly responsible for increasing the Finnish Capital Gains tax total by around a fifth.
Click to expand...

Not bad.
 
L

Longsword

Member
The price is going up to 9 billion, according to Bloomberg.

To compare the entire Ubisoft is worth around 3.7 billion, and all of Take Twp/Rckkstar is 3.4 billion.
 
L

Lucumo

Member
I like Softbank and hope they make some good cash on this (if it's at 9 billion, that's guaranteed). Though, the amount of money spent in 2013 differs from the one I read elsewhere.
 
coughlanio

coughlanio

Member
They've been skinning trains here in Tokyo entirely in Clash of Clans garb. They've really pushed it, and I've never seen someone playing it here.
 
L

Lucumo

Member
Looks like a definite agreement was reached, way higher than $5B.

HELSINKI, Finland & TOKYO, Japan & SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Supercell Oy (“Supercell” or “the Company”), SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG) (TSE:9984) and certain of its subsidiaries (“SoftBank”), and Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK:00700) (“Tencent”) today announced the signing of a definitive agreement pursuant to which a consortium established by Tencent (the “Consortium”) will acquire up to 84% of Supercell in a transaction valuing the Company at an equity value of approximately USD 10.2 billion (approximately JPY 1.1 trillion).

Following the transaction, Supercell will be owned by the Consortium and by Supercell’s employees. Supercell will retain its independent operations, the headquarters will remain in Helsinki, Finland and its existing team will continue to run all operations of the Company. To focus on continued success, every employee is already an equity holder in Supercell and the partnership with Tencent will significantly enhance this commitment. Every employee will take part in a new long-term incentive plan, and will be able to sell their vested shares annually to Tencent.

The transaction, which is currently expected to close during the third calendar quarter of 2016, is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

SoftBank will no longer own any shares in Supercell following closing.
Click to expand...

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...ent-Acquire-Majority-Stake-Supercell-SoftBank
 
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