S.Korea's Netmarble buys Hong Kong-based casino game app co SpinX for $2.19 billion
(Fixes typo in headline)
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp said on Monday it agreed to buy 100% of Hong Kong-based social casino game company SpinX Games for $2.19 billion.
Netmarble acquired SpinX through its holding company based in the Cayman Islands, in an effort to diversify its game portfolios and strengthen global business competitiveness, it said in a regulatory filing.
SpinX, established in 2014, offers casino game mobile apps such as "Cash Frenzy" and reported a 328.9 billion won ($285.99 million) revenue as of end-second quarter of this year, ranking third out of firms in the global mobile social casino genre, Netmarble said.
Netmarble is backed by Tencent, which holds a 17.5% stake in the South Korean game company, the third-largest stake after those of founder Bang Jun-hyuk and CJ ENM.
($1 = 1,150.0300 won)
Reporting by Joyce Lee, editing by Louise Heavens