Saudi sovereign wealth fund buys 5% stake in Nexon

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) has bought a 5% stake in online game developer Nexon Co., the gaming company said on Feb. 4. The acquisition cost $883 million, Nexon said.

The sovereign wealth fund has become the fourth-largest shareholder of the South Korean gaming giant. PIF has said the acquisition is for simple investment.

PIF has been making big bets on global gaming companies. Also on Friday, the sovereign wealth fund announced it bought a 5.1% stake in Japanese game developer Capcom Co. PIF owns a 4.9% stake in Activision Blizzard Inc., the game developer of World of Warcraft, a 2.6% stake in video game company Electronic Arts and a 3.5% stake in game publisher Take Two Interactive Software Inc.

The sovereign wealth fund launched its gaming company Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) last month, according to its website. PIF aims to spur investment in promising industries such as entertainment and sports from 2021 to 2025. The sovereign wealth fund manages 1.8 trillion Saudi riyals ($480 billion) in assets.

Nexon will expand its global gaming businesses more efficiently, backed by PIF’s global game developer networks, a gaming industry source said. The Korean game developer is accelerating its overseas investment -- in January it injected $400 million in AGBO, a US entertainment company co-founded by Avengers film series co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo. Owning at least a 38% stake in AGBO, Nexon will invest up to an additional $100 million in the first half of this year, if requested by AGBO.

PIF’s investment news pushed Nexon subsidiaries' shares up on Friday. Nexon GT Co.'s stock rose by 10% during the day and closed 5.85% up. NetGames Co. stock jumped by 6.29% on the day.

Write to Min-Ki Koo at kook@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.