Savvy Games Group, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has agreed to acquire Scopely for $4.9 billion. The acquisition falls in line with Savvy’s new vision, to focus on becoming a publisher and developer.
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Scopely is known for successful games like Star Trek Fleet Command, Stumble Guys, Scrabble GO, Yahtzee With Buddies, and more. This acquisition brings Scopely’s development capabilities, publishing infrastructure, and differentiated technology to the Savvy ecosystem, along with a global footprint of talented gamemakers across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group, said:
“Scopely is one of the fastest-growing games companies today, and we have long admired their ability to build loyal, engaged player communities. At Savvy Games Group, our mission is to invest in – and grow – the global games community by inviting the best minds to join us.
Under Walter and Javier’s stewardship, Scopely has proven to be an exceptional leader and will continue to revolutionize the future of games for years to come. We look forward to further accelerating the company’s ambitions and working together with their talented team of developers, designers, and publishers to create innovative and exciting new products for the gaming community across the world.”
This acquisition will also build on Scopely’s cross-platform approach to extend its live services expertise to new segments like PC, Console, and other genres of gameplay.
Scopely co-CEO Walter Driver, said:
“Today’s announcement marks a major milestone in the Scopely journey. Savvy Games Group shares our long-held belief that the companies who have built the deepest relationships with their players will succeed.
Together, as one, we will be able to further expand the possibilities of play, continuing to develop beloved game experiences for players around the world. This transformational partnership is a great validation of the incredible talent of our entire Scopely team and will further accelerate our efforts to drive the games industry forward.”
J.P. Morgan acted as lead financial advisor to Savvy on this transaction. Bank of America and Aream also acted as financial advisors to Savvy, and Latham and Watkins acted as legal advisor.
Saudi Arabia has bought over 3 billion shares from many companies, such as SNK, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two. PIF aims to profit from these investments with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which was approved by the country last year.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, with total estimated assets of $620 billion. It was created in 1971 to invest funds on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has controlled the wealth fund since 2015.
