Embracer Group has announced another round of acquisitions, including the rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
In a series of press releases made this morning, the Swedish company announced that it had agreed to acquired a number of companies, including Middle-earth Enterprises.
The deal will giveEmbracer Group“a vast intellectual property catalogue and worldwide rights to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions relating to the iconic fantasy literary works The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien”.
The company also announced plans to acquire a number of video game companies includingLimited Run Games, Singtrix, Tuxedo Labs and Tripwire Interactive.
It’s also launching its 11th operating group, which will be named Embracer Freemode, and will focus on “the retro, classic, and heritage gaming category, as well as investing in iconic gaming and entertainment properties.”
Under the Freemode name, the company has also acquired Tatsujin, Bitwave Games and Gioteck.
The full list of acquisitions confirmed today are as follows:
According to Embracer, the acquisitions of Middle-earth Enterprises, Limited Run Games, Tuxedo Labs, Tripwire Interactive, Singtrix and the undisclosed company have a combined upfront cost of SEK 6 billion ($576 million), with further payments linked to financial and operational targets bringing the total potential cost to SEK 8.2 billon ($787 million).
Speaking on the acquisition of Limited Run Games, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said: “As an avid collector, I’ve admired Limited Run’s collectors’ editions. They’ve built a strong brand that resonates with players.
“We see opportunities for Limited Run to further grow their business with the Carbon Engine by bringing back classic games, and extend their footprint geographically through synergies with other companies within Embracer Group.”
The news marks another round of acquisitions by Embracer, which has increased its portfolio of companies drastically in recent years to become one of the world’s largest publishers.
The Swedish company announced in May that it plansto acquire a large part of Square Enix’s western development armfor $300 million. The deal will see Embracer become the owner ofCrystal Dynamics,Eidos Montreal,Square EnixMontreal, and a catalogue of IPs including Tomb Raider and Deus Ex.
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It also owns such companies asTHQ Nordic,Koch Media/Deep Silver,Saber InteractiveandGearbox Software, and in December 2021 purchased French board game company Asmodee for €2.75 billion, its largest acquisition to date.
Last year itacquired Borderlands developer Gearboxfor up to $1.4 billion, and in 2020 itpurchased World War Z and Witcher 3 port developer Saberin a deal that could rise to $525 million.
In March, Embracer acquired Dark Horse Media, one the leading US comic book publishers, for an undisclosed sum.
