Tencent has received approval from a UK High Court to acquire UK games outfit Sumo Group for $1.27 billion.
Earlier today, Sumo Group revealed to investors that approval was granted from the High Court of Justice in England and Wales on January 13th, 2022. The parties later issued a statement that the court order had been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, finalising the acquisition.
Going forward, Sumo Group will operate under the ownership of Tencent subsidiary Sixjoy Hong Kong, also known as Tencent Bidco. The acquisition will see all Sumo Group-owned entities, including Sumo Digital and its respective subsidiaries, under the control of Tencent Bidco.
Tencent takes control
The acquisition was first revealed in July 2021, with Tencent offering to pay a premium of 43 per cent per share for the UK-based games firm. Prior to the acquisition, Tencent was the second-highest majority shareholder in Sumo Group.
Trading of Sumo Group shares on London Stock Exchange sub-market AIM ceased at 7:30am GMT today. The admission to trade Sumo shares will be cancelled from 7:00am GMT on January 18th, 2022.
Additionally, Sumo Group has announced that Ian Livingstone, Michael Sherwin, and Andrea Dunstan have resigned from their respective non-executive director positions.
A the start of 2022, Tencent revealed that it had raised $3 billion from the sale of a portion of its shares in Sea Group. The firm stated that the capital raised will be directed towards funding other investments and “social initiatives”.
