Talks with Supercell are at an early stage and the acquisition is not a sure thing, say sources HONG KONG — TENCENT Holdings is discussing the purchase of SoftBank Group’s majority stake in Supercell in a deal that may value the Finnish game maker at $9bn, higher than previously thought, according to people familiar with the matter.The talks are at an early stage and the acquisition might still fall apart, said the people, asking not to be identified. SoftBank acquired a majority interest in Helsinki-based Supercell for about $1.5bn in 2013, and increased that to 73% last year. Bloomberg News reported last month that SoftBank was considering a sale of Supercell, which makes Clash of Clans and other mobile games, and that the deal would value the company at more than $5bn.Tencent operates China’s most popular messaging services and has been expanding its games business. Japan’s SoftBank has decided that games are not a core part of its business and has already agreed to sell shares i...
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