HONG KONG, March 20 (Reuters) – China’s ByteDance has agreed to sell Shanghai Moonton Technology, the studio behind popular mobile game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, to a Riyadh-based gaming firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the companies said on Friday. It did not disclose any financial details of the deal, but a person […]
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ByteDance to sell gaming unit Moonton to Saudi PIF-owned firm
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HONG KONG, March 20 (Reuters) – China’s ByteDance has agreed to sell Shanghai Moonton Technology, the studio behind popular mobile game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, to a Riyadh-based gaming firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the companies said on Friday.
It did not disclose any financial details of the deal, but a person with knowledge of the matter said the transaction values Moonton at more than $6 billion.
Reuters reported in February that tech company ByteDance was in advanced talks to sell the business to Savvy Games Group in a deal valued at between $6 billion and $7 billion.
Savvy, owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund the PIF, is a global games and e-sports company that according to its website is pursuing growth through acquisitions, investments and commercial ventures.
VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY IN CONSOLIDATION
The Moonton sale would add to the ongoing consolidation in the video game industry as a number of major players race for intellectual property dominance and more distribution channels, and to scale up in global markets.
The deal also comes as ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, doubles down on its AI business, developing its own proprietary chips and releasing improved large language models to lure users away from rivals in China’s increasingly crowded AI sector.
ByteDance bought Moonton in 2021 via its gaming unit Nuverse, with the deal valuing the studio at around $4 billion, Reuters reported at the time.
MOONTON CEO SAYS MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE TO REMAIN
Zhang Yunfan, CEO of Moonton, said the company’s management structure would remain unchanged after the deal and that he would continue to lead the Shanghai-headquartered company, according to an internal letter seen by Reuters.
Savvy CEO Brian Ward said the deal would help “further strengthen our leadership in mobile games, deepen our talent pool, expand our global footprint, and enhance our reach across esports”.
Japan’s Nikkei newspaper first reported the agreement on Friday.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Jan Harvey)