Supercell has acquired a majority stake in London based Space Ape Games. The Clash of Clans maker shelled out $55.8 million to acquire a 62 percent stake in Space Ape. The company is known for producing hits like Tansformers: Earth Wars and Samurai Siege.
The deal values Space Ape at around $90 million and under the terms, Space Ape will continue operating as an independent entity.
Both of the team share a similar culture, operating style and work ethics The companies had also engaged in talks as early as 2016. As such, the decision to come together was not a bolt from the blue.
Speaking about the deal, Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell said:
We share their vision and passion to create games for the biggest possible audience. They want to innovate, take risks, and aren’t afraid to make mistakes. We also know from our own experience that this vision needs a backer who thinks long-term and is patient. And, above all, who trusts the team and stays out of the way. As a bonus, we’ve been huge fans of the UK game developer scene since the days of Commodore 64 so it’s really cool to partner with a studio there.
Speaking about his reasons behind going with Supercell, Space Ape founder John Earner writes:
Why Supercell? Supercell is a kindred company. They love games as much as we do, in a mobile games industry I often feel is just not passionate enough about playing games themselves. Supercell works like we work: in small, collaborative teams. Supercell is patient, innovative, ambitious, and enormously successful. They are prepared for the ups and downs our journey will continue to bring because they’ve been there. They believe in us. They’ll let us dream bigger and think longer term.
Earner, along with his Co-Founders Toby Moore, and Simon Hade are staying on with Space Ape. Their company will be operating mostly independently, and will be able to leverage Supercell’s huge network — that saw it generate over $2 Billion from just 3 games — to sell and market their own titles.
