OREANDA-NEWS. SoftBank and GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. announced that they have entered into an agreement with Supercell Oy, a mobile game company headquartered in Finland, its shareholders and the representative of such shareholders.

Under the agreement, a special purpose company jointly established by SoftBank and GungHo in Finland will invest a total of USD 1.53 billion (approximately JPY 151.5 billion) in Supercell (the "Transaction"), and will hold 51% of Supercell's outstanding voting stock. Following the Transaction, Supercell will continue to operate independently while leveraging SoftBank's strategic resources, and will also become a subsidiary of SoftBank.

Supercell is a mobile game company headquartered in Finland. Their two game apps, Clash of Clans and Hay Day, reached the top position in Top Grossing ranking of Apple's App Store in 137 countries and 96 countries, respectively.

From February 2013 to August 2013, Supercell was the No.1 publisher in the world among the apps in the Games category of the App Store. This new strategic partnership with SoftBank and GungHo will help accelerate Supercell's goal of becoming the "first truly global games company".

GungHo started its online game business in 2002, and it has since then accumulated significant expertise and produced notable results in the development and operation of online games. As its Puzzle and Dragons for smartphone has hit over 19 million downloads in Japan and over 1 million downloads in both North America and South Korea, GungHo is focused on expanding to other markets. Through the Transaction GungHo will leverage Supercell's position among the apps in the Games category of the App Store and marketing power abroad to enhance its global expansion.

SoftBank acquired Sprint Nextel Corporation (currently Sprint Communications, Inc.) in July 2013, expanding its business operations from Japan to the U.S. With GungHo and Supercell as drivers in content services, the SoftBank Group continues to strive toward the goal of becoming the "No.1 mobile Internet company."