News

THQ Nordic snaps up Deep Silver owner Koch Media in deal worth $196 million

No changes to happen at either company

Date Type Companies involved Size
February 14th, 2018 acquisition Koch Media
THQ Nordic
$195.7m
€121m
THQ Nordic snaps up Deep Silver owner Koch Media in deal worth $196 million

Austria-based games publisher THQ Nordic has acquired media firm Koch Media in a deal worth €121 million ($195.7 million).

Koch Media is the owner of games publisher Deep Silver, which owns numerous console IP. It also owns the developer Deep Silver Fishlabs, known for its Galaxy on Fire series of mobile games.

The deal will see THQ Nordic pay a total of €82 million ($101.4 million) in cash, with €66 million ($81.6 million) paid upfront and the rest over 2018. €9.5 million ($11.7 million) will be paid in newly created shares.

THQ Nordic and Koch Media will continue to exist and operate as separate entities, with no restructuring planned. A new name for the listed entity may be put into place later in 2018, but THQ Nordic and Koch Media will retain their separate names if this happens.

Big plans

“Koch Media has a long history of profitability despite losses incurred from some less successful game releases," said THQ Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors.

"THQ Nordic is convinced that the development studios of Deep Silver as part of THQ Nordic will successfully deliver at least four ongoing AAA game projects including Metro Exodus as well as the next Volition Studio AAA release and the next Dambuster Studio AAA release, together with a number of other game development and publishing titles."

THQ Nordic hasn't been especially active on mobile, though this acquisition does mean it will now have a dedicated mobile developer under its belt in the from of Deep Silver Fishlabs. It did appear to be gearing up for the Switch back in December 2016 when it acquired three old IPs.


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