The entertainment division of the Chinese chemical company Jinke has acquired the British studio Outfit7, known for the media franchise “Talking Tom”.
Since January of this year, there have been rumors that Jinke bought Outfit7 back in December last year, but soon the British developer officially announced that its owner was a consortium of Asian investors United Luck Group Holdings Limited.
According to Forbes and Yibada, Jiinke Entertainment Culture signed a framework agreement to buy Outfit7 just 4 days after the sale of the studio to United Luck Group Holdings Limited. In both cases, the transaction amount was $1 billion.
It is still unknown whether there was a bidding war between Chinese investors, or it was planned from the very beginning.
The Outfit7 purchase story has become one of the strangest deals in the history of the Chinese gaming market, along with the sale of the British studio Splash Damage to a Chinese chicken supplier and the acquisition of the developer China Mobile Games and Entertainment by a company that produces auto parts.
Source: Pocket Gamer