Embracer Group, a Swedish video game holding company has signed an agreement to acquire Dark Horse Media LLC.
Already owning nine operative groups, Dark Horse is set to become Embracer Group’s tenth operative group. Embracer hopes to solidify and strengthen its transmedia capabilities by bringing in comic publishing, film and TV production, as well as content development.
Dark Horse currently owns and controls over 300 intellectual properties. This includes newly unannounced video games with various branches of operation in Oregon, Milwaukee and Los Angeles.
Dark Horse founder and CEO Mike Richardson will continue to lead the company together with existing management. He stated that, “I can’t express the excitement I feel as Dark Horse moves into this new chapter in our history.
“The synergies that exist with the Embracer network of companies promise exciting new opportunities not only for Dark Horse, but also for the creators and companies we work with. The future for our company has never looked brighter.”
With 181 employees across its various business branches, Dark Horse owns Father’s Day, Ghost and The Mask. It also licenses titles such as Star Wars, Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy, Resident Alien and the Hellboy films.
Dark Horse is also a leading publisher in game art collections. Their remarkable work on The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia made it a best seller.
There is also an untapped potential in developing games using the Dark Horse IP as a substantial opportunity to synergize within Embracer group, who recently reported a game revenue increase of 89%, and within Dark Horse Comics and Dark Horse Entertainment.
80 per cent of shares owned by Dark Horse will be acquired from a seller in China and Hong Kong. The remaining 20 per cent will be acquired from CEO and founder, Mike Richardson and COO Neil Hankerson.
Both Richardson and Hankerson are committed to remaining within the company even after its acquisition by Embracer group. There are no planned restructuring of any kind and business will go on as usual.
The terms of the transactions are being kept under wraps due to commercial reasons. However, it is subject to certain closing conditions such as merger control approval.
The deal for Embracer Group’s acquisition of Dark Horse is expected to be completed in early 2022.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
