Chinese internet and game giant Tencent may be looking to expand by buying Softbank's 73% share in Supercell, according to The Wall Street Journal.

There were already rumours that SoftBank had been looking to sell up, but until now there was no word on who it might be.

A potential giant

Tencent is already one of the largest game companies in the world, as it owns Riot Games, responsible for League of Legends, and has a stake in Epic Games. 

In 2015, also acquired large stakes in mobile publishers Glu Mobile and Pocket Gems, and controls around 50% of the Chinese mobile game market through its WeChat and QQ platforms. 

This transaction could allow Supercell to acquire a larger market in China, as well as creating a dominant mobile games publisher worldwide with many of the highest-grossing games available.

Apparently, rival Chinese companies Giant Interactive and Alibaba had shown interest in buying Softbank's Supercell stake in 2015, but negotiations over the price couldn't be agreed.