It was recently revealed that a Luxembourg-based private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, is in talks with Jagex – the prolific developer of RuneScape – to buy the company for a whopping $1.1 billion. It was a few months ago that it was revealed that Jagex would be ‘offloaded’ by its current owner, Carlyle Group, and as conversations in that space persist, the value of the company is being revealed as something phenomenal.
This will be the fourth time that Jagex has been bought out, and each time, it has almost doubled in value.
That’s A Lot of GP
RuneScape is one of the most recognisable and popular MMORPGs in history. It has existed for more than two decades and has pulled in almost half a billion users in that time. In 2012, IVP bought Jagex out for around $150 million, and then in 2016, a Chinese firm called Fukong bought the developer for $350 million. In 2021, the Carlyle Group paid an eye-watering sum of $530 million for Jagex – and now talks are suggesting that the firm could sell again for as much as $1.1 billion.
Originally, this story was broken by Sky News, an unlikely source in the gaming space.
If the transaction goes ahead, Jagex will be acquired in full by CVC Capital Partners, a company worth a remarkable $150 billion. The firm has a bustling investment portfolio that is comprised of medical organisations, sports teams, and retail brands. There are some gaming brands in that portfolio too, including Gaming1 and Razer, but the acquisition of Jagex would be the largest investment CVC has made in this industry.
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