Tencent reportedly nears deal to buy majority stake in Supercell

(Reuters) — Tencent Holdings Ltd, China’s biggest social network and online entertainment firm, is nearing a deal to buy a majority stake in Supercell Oy, which will value the mobile game maker at more than $9 billion, a source familiar with the matter said.

Tencent plans to buy the stake in Supercell, the Finnish company behind the mobile game ‘Clash of Clans’, from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.

SoftBank said last year it had increased its controlling stake in Supercell to 73.2 percent, without disclosing the financial details.

The Japanese communications and media company had bought a 51 percent stake in the mobile games maker in 2013 for about $1.5 billion.

Tencent, which is in late-stage talks with SoftBank, is in discussions with several financial investors, including Hillhouse Capital Group, to join in the purchase as co-investors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tencent, Softbank and Supercell were not immediately available for a comment.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru and Liana Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)