According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group is on the verge of its next billion-pound acquisition: the company is reportedly in talks with TikTok's parent company ByteDance about the mobile games studio Moonton.
The Reuters news agency cites two sources familiar with the negotiations. The deal is reportedly set to be finalised before the end of the current quarter. According to Reuters' exclusive report, Savvy Games Group, which is largely financed by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF, and ByteDance have already reached a broad agreement. The deal is said to be worth between $6 billion and $7 billion and, if it goes ahead, is likely to be one of the largest M&A deals in gaming.
Reuters has not yet received any comments from the parties involved in response to its own enquiries. Nor is there any other information or indication of an imminent takeover.
The Savvy Games Group has been active in gaming for years with massive financial resources. Among its most important acquisitions were the purchase and subsequent merger (in German) of the two esports organisations ESL and Faceit to form the ESL Faceit Group, and the acquisition (in German) of mobile game publisher Scopely. The ongoing purchase of Electronic Arts, which PIF is undertaking with a consortium, has nothing to do with Savvy Games Group. EA is to remain an independent entity. However, closer cooperation, particularly with the esports companies of Savvy Games Group, can be expected.
Moonton, which belonged to the Chinese company ByteDance (TikTok), primarily operates the game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. According to Reuters, the title has been installed more than 1.5 billion times worldwide and reaches 110 million active users per month.
