SHANGHAI, July 31 (UPI) — A Chinese consortium has confirmed it will buy the social and mobile games unit of Caesar’s Interactive for $4.4 billion.
It is the most recent example of a growing trend for big deals involving smart phone games, the New York Times reported. The consortium, which includes Yunfeng Capital and Shanghai Giant Network Technology Co., will pay cash to Caesar’s Interactive Entertainment for Playtika to purchase the casino-style gaming unit, PR Newswire reported.
Playtika plans to continue to run independently from its headquarters in Herzliya, Israel. It’s management team will continue running day-to-day operations.
“This transaction is a testament to Playtika’s unique culture and the innovative spirit of our employees who for the past six years have consistently designed, produced and operated some of the most compelling, immersive and creative social games in the world,” said Robert Antokol, Co-Founder and CEO of Playtika.
“We are incredibly excited by the commercial opportunities the consortium will make available to us, particularly in its ability to provide us access to large and rapidly growing emerging markets,”Antokol said. “This is an amazing milestone for all Playtikans and we truly value how unique this opportunity is to continue executing our vision with such a strong partner,” he said.
Playtika has successfully developed a scalable platform prime for future international expansion.
“Playtika’s growth has been exceptional, and highlights its outstanding team, excellent corporate culture, cutting-edge big data analytics, and its unique ability to transform and grow games,” said a consortium representative, Giant’s founder and Chairman Shi Yuzhu. “We are looking forward to Playtika continuing to innovate and excel.”
