Embracer, the Swedish group, is increasing its acquisitions. “It’s a bit like Pac man video game », explains Charles-Louis Planade, director of international operations at the investment bank TP ICAP Midcap. In the sector, the image speaks volumes. Like this major figure in pop culture of the 1980s and 1990s, the group is gluttonous, ready to devour anything that passes before its eyes. His latest coup: the takeover, at the beginning of May, of the western division of the Japanese Square Enix, including a catalog of licenses such as tomb Raider Where Deus Ex.
Amount of the operation: 300 million dollars (295 million euros). A straw in a sector which sees multiplying the deals with nine zeros, but which corresponds to the philosophy of Embracer. Its strategy: multiply acquisitions at ” down “ cost – even if he agreed, exceptionally, to pay 1.3 billion dollars to get his hands on the Gearbox Software studio, known for its series of shooting games Borderlands.
In 2021 alone, Embracer concluded around twenty transactions, which allows it to post impressive growth figures. Over the 2021-2022 financial year, which ended in March, its video game sales increased by 116% in value, to 1.5 billion euros. In total, the group brings together more than 80 studios under its umbrella and plans around forty acquisitions during the year. While letting them live their own lives, the group encourages collaborations and synergies.
Diversification
In eighteen years of existence, the company, which has changed its name several times, has always been managed by its founder, Lars Wingefors. When he was young, he began selling second-hand comic books by mail order, before entering the video game business. In 2007, the company published its first game (a karaoke title for Nintendo), then acquired its first studio in 2011. Listed on the stock market in 2016, the company is now valued at 8.5 billion dollars (8.2 billion euros), more than Ubisoft (5.5 billion euros), which makes it the European video game giant.
Beyond its activity in video games, Embracer has decided in recent years to diversify, as reflected in its recent acquisitions. The company must in particular finalize the acquisition of the French specialist in board games Asmodee (Dobble, Catan, etc.). She got her hands on the third American comic book publisher, Dark Horse (which notably adapted the series into an album. Stranger Things), as well as companies specializing in audiovisual production.
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