Clash of Clans maker Supercell makes the leap to Tencent in $8.6 billion deal - CNET

The lovable barbarian, sly archer and the rest of the gang from Clash of Clans just found a new home.

Chinese inteet giant Tencent will acquire a majority stake in Fiish game maker Supercell, best known for the blockbuster mobile game, for $8.6 billion, the companies said Tuesday.

Tencent will own a 84 percent stake, a majority of which will be purchased from Japanese telecom giant SoftBank, which bought a majority share in 2013. The gaming firm will control the rest of the shares and SoftBank will part ways with the company. The deal values the company at $10.2 billion.

The move to Tencent represents an opportunity for Supercell to tap into a new market with the support of a huge Chinese player. Clash of Clans remains a top-grossing app in Apple's App Store even as the company attempts to replicate the success with its follow-up titles.

"This new partnership offers us exciting growth opportunities in China, where we will be able to reach hundreds of millions of new gamers via Tencent's chaels," Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell, said in a statement.