Saber Interactive founder Matthew Karch has launched a defence of his former employer Embracer Group and its CEO, Lars Wingefors.
Embracer has officially sold off Saber Interactive
15.03.2024 - 15:01 / thesixthaxis.com / Matthew Karch / Interactive / Saber Interactive
Embracer Group has announced the $247 million sale of Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive, a new parent company that is owned by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch.
That’s a significant reduction in perceived value, compared to the $525 million that Embracer acquired Saber for in 2020, and the $500 million sale price that was reported in the last few weeks – though it could rise to $500 million with buyer options.
The acquisition is going ahead with a promissory note for $203 million, to be paid in cash by the end of the calendar year, with various stipulations and timings affecting this.
As part of this, Embracer Group is able to state that they have immediately improved the company’s cash flow, reduced capex, net debt and future liabilities. There’s also the ability for them to fully cease all operations in Russia – Saber Interactive was founded in Russia in 2001, and still has studios in both Russia and Belarus, though is now much more of an international company and moved its headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, Florida following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s been a uneasy grey area surrounding the company as a whole for the last couple years, to say the least.
Since they were acquired, Saber Interactive has grown massively under Embracer’s leadership, with the litany of smaller developer acquisitions being funnelled into this and other Embracer divisions. Following the acquisition, Saber will retain all of the Saber Interactive-branded studios as well as DIGIC, Fractured Byte, Mad Head Games, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Sandbox Strategies, Slipgate Ironworks, and 3D Realms.
Explaining some of the reduced purchase price, Embracer will retain 34BigThings, 4A Games, Aspyr, Beamdog, Demiurge Studios, Shiver, Snapshot Games, Tripwire Interactive, Tuxedo Labs, and Zen Studios. Saber has the option to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios – which would bring the total price back up to $500 million – but in the event they do acquire 4A Games, then they will have to grant long-term licensing and publishing rights for the Metro franchise to Embracer subsidiary Plaion.
“Over the past four years, I have been proud to be part of Embracer’s amazing transformation into one of the leading game companies in the world. As part of the company’s efforts to reorganize for a changed industry and geopolitical challenges, we jointly felt it was the right decision for both Embracer and the core of Saber to part ways. This divestment leaves both parties in much better positions to grow our respective businesses. I will continue to remain a large, long-term shareholder of Embracer and we will remain partners on several ongoing and future projects. This transaction also safeguards the livelihoods of hundreds
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