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Embracer Group has acquired Dark Horse Media, which the company says will strengthen its transmedia capabilities by adding expertise in content development, comics publishing, and film production. Dark Horse Media is the company that oversees Dark Horse Comics, the third-largest comic book publisher in the US, as well as production company Dark Horse Entertainment and retail chain Things From Another World.
On the comic book side of the acquisition, this deal gives Embracer Group ownership over comic book titles such as The Mask, Time Cop, Father’s Day, and Ghost. Dark Horse has also published several creator-owned series such as Frank Miller’s Sin City and popular manga like Berserk since it was founded in 1986.
While Embracer Group hasn’t revealed how much it spent on buying Dark Horse Media, the company did mention that 80% of the shares of Dark Horse will be acquired from a seller based in Hong Kong and China, and the remaining 20% from founder and CEO Mike Richardson and COO Neil Hankerson.
Embracer Group says that it will be business as usual after the deal completes, and will see both Richardson and Hankerson remain with Dark Horse. Beyond that, the company says that there is untapped potential in creating games based on Dark Horse intellectual properties.
“I can’t express the excitement I feel as Dark Horse moves into this new chapter in our history,” Richardson said in a press statement. “The synergies that exist with the Embracer network of companies promises exciting new opportunities not only for Dark Horse, but also for the creators and companies we work with. I’ve had a number of compelling conversations with Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors and I’m very impressed with him and what he and his team have built.”
Embracer Group currently owns more than 60 internal studios in over 45 countries in Europe and the US, and spent over $1.3 billion on acquiring Gearbox Software in February this year. In August, the company spent another $313 million on the purchase of several studios, and just last week it purchased tabletop giant Asmodee in a record $3.1 billion deal.
