Leyou

Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited (formerly Sumpo Food Holdings Limited) is a video game holding company based in Hong Kong. Founded in 2010, the company originally dealt with poultry. After purchasing Digital Extremes, a video game developer, in October 2014, Sumpo was renamed Leyou in 2015 and shifted towards the video game sector. Leyou subsequently established Athlon Games, and acquired majority holdings in Splash Damage, Kingmaker, and Radiance Games, as well as a minority stake in Certain Affinity. In December 2020, Leyou was acquired by Tencent.

Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedFebruary 22, 2010 (2010-02-22)
Headquarters
Hong Kong
,
China
ParentTencent (2020–present)
Subsidiaries
Websiteleyoutech.com.hk

Overview

Sumpo was incorporated as a holding company in the Cayman Islands on 22 February 2010.[1]

In October 2014, the chicken meat supplier Sumpo Food Holdings announced their intent to acquire a majority stake in Canadian games company Digital Extremes.[2] Digital Extremes is the developer and publisher of titles such as Dark Sector and Warframe.

In 2015, the company renamed itself to Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited.[3] The company at that time had two core businesses, Agriculture and Poultry and Gaming.[4]

In June 2016, Leyou purchased the remaining shares of Digital Extremes.[5][6][7]

In July 2016, the sale of British games developer Splash Damage to Radius Maxima (a Leyou subsidiary)[8] was announced, for up to $150 million by Paul Wedgwood, its sole owner, co-founder and chief executive.[9][10] Splash Damage is the developer of titles such as Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Brink and Dirty Bomb.

In August 2016, the company announced they would sell the chicken business and focus on its gaming business.[11][12]

In July 2017, Leyou announced that it had acquired a 51% stake in Guangzhou Radiance Software Technology Co. Ltd., a company working on Civilization Online under a license granted by Take-Two Interactive.[13]

In October 2017, Leyou announced a $10 million investment in Austin-based game developer Certain Affinity to develop original games, gaining a 20% minority stake in the company.[14][15]

In May 2018, Leyou launched a video game publishing label known as Athlon Games based in California.[16][17]

In September 2018, Leyou announced a partnership between Athlon Games and Middle-earth Enterprises to publish a multi-year online free to play game based on The Lord of the Rings fantasy work of J.R.R. Tolkien.[18] In July 2019, Leyou and Amazon announced that they would collaborate on the project, with Amazon publishing the game worldwide and Leyou publishing the game in China and Taiwan.[19]

In 2019, Athlon Games became the worldwide publisher of Samurai Shodown, with SNK developing the game and publishing the game in Asia.[20]

In August 2019, Athlon Games became shareholder and publishing partner of LCG Entertainment, which acquired the assets of defunct studio Telltale Games.[21][22]

In 2019, Leyou were reportedly seeking a buyer. iDreamSky (which its 18.6% stake is owned by Tencent) and CVC Capital Partners offered to acquire Leyou, but the talks were stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23] iDreamSky were met with a competing offer from Zhejiang Century Huatong, who entered into a non-binding merger agreement with Leyou in May 2020.[24] Bloomberg News reported that both Sony and Tencent were also interested in bidding for Leyou as of July 2020.[25][26] By August of that year, Tencent appeared to be close to signing a deal to acquire Leyou Technologies and take the company private.[27] The Tencent deal was confirmed by the Leyou shareholders by December 11, 2020 and completed by December 23, 2020. Under the US$1.5 billion deal, Tencent fully acquired the firm under its subsidiary Image Frame Investment.[28][29]

References
  1. "Sumpo Food Holdings Limited – Placing and Public Offer" (PDF) (Press release). Leyou. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  2. "Major transaction in relation to the acquisition of 58% of the entire issued share capital of Digital Extremes" (PDF). 2014-10-14. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  3. "Change of company name and stock short name" (PDF). 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  4. "Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited | 樂遊科技控股有限公司". Archived from the original on 2015-04-26.
  5. "GamesBeat Boss interview: China's Leyou moves from chicken meat to triple-A game publishing". VentureBeat. 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  6. "Lexpert ® | Leyou Technologies acquires 39% of Digital Extremes for US$65 million". Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  7. "Leyou Technologies Holdings Purchases Digital Extremes, Creators of Warframe -". mxdwn Games. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  8. "Splash Damage sold to Chinese poultry firm". gamesindustry.biz. 2017-07-11. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  9. Alex Hern. "Chinese chicken supplier buys UK games developer Splash Damage | Technology". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  10. Purchese, Robert (2016-07-11). "Splash Damage bought by Chinese chicken meat company Leyou •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  11. "A strong contender for the weirdest deal of 2016". 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  12. "Very substantial disposal and connected transactions related to disposal of the entire equity interest in the target company and provision of financial assistance to a connected person" (PDF). 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  13. "Voluntary announcement investment in an online game development company incorporated in People's Republic of China" (PDF). 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  14. "Austin Game Maker Certain Affinity Lands $10 Million Investment from Hong Kong Firm - SiliconHills". SiliconHills. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  15. Ivan, Tom (July 2, 2020). "Sony is 'considering bidding' for the parent of Warframe and Gears Tactics studios". Video Games Chronicles. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  16. "Digital Extremes' Chinese owner stealthily launches new US publisher". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  17. "Leyou Tech Established Game Publishing Division in USA Spearheaded by Former WBIE VP & Director". Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  18. "Athlon Games Partners with Middle-earth Enterprises". leyoutech.com.hk. 2018-09-03. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  19. "Amazon Will Co-Develop 'Lord of the Rings' Game With Leyou". 2019-07-11. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  20. "Samurai Shodown to be published by Athlon Games". 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  21. Campell, Colin (August 28, 2019). "Telltale Games is being revived". Polygon.
  22. Takahashi, Dean (August 28, 2019). "LCG Entertainment game veterans buy Telltale Games". VentureBeat.
  23. "CVC, iDreamSky Talks for Hong Kong's Leyou Buyout Have Stalled". April 22, 2020.
  24. "Hong Kong Gaming Firm Leyou Tech Gets a New Buyout Offer". May 4, 2020.
  25. "Sony Weighs Bid for Hong Kong-Listed Gaming Firm Leyou". July 2, 2020.
  26. Baigorri, Manuel (July 10, 2020). "Tencent in Talks to Acquire Hong Kong-Listed Gaming Firm Leyou". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  27. Baigorri, Manuel (August 24, 2020). "Tencent Nears Deal to Take Gaming Firm Leyou Private". Bloomberg News. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  28. Batchelor, James (December 14, 2020). "Leyou shareholders approve Tencent takeover". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  29. Stanton, Rich (December 23, 2020). "Tencent acquires Warframe developer Digital Extremes and several other studios". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
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