Tencent will change the strategy of acquisition of gaming companies outside of its native China

According to Reuters, the Chinese holding Tencent intends to change the strategy of mergers and acquisitions of foreign gaming companies. The industry giant is reportedly planning to focus more on buying majority stakes as it looks to expand globally to offset the slowdown in the Chinese market.

The company is currently actively seeking to own controlling stakes in foreign companies, especially in Europe. Through a change in its strategy, Tencent is about to make a strong expansion into global markets for its future growth, which requires a strong asset portfolio.

In addition to the main gaming sector, Tencent is also looking to acquire global assets, in particular in Europe, related to the so-called metaverse. Tencent's drive to increase stakes in gaming companies is due to other tech giants such as Microsoft, Sony and Amazon willingly buying up gaming assets and related intellectual property rights, sources close to the situation said. In other words, the holding intends to join the struggle for global markets and compete with well-known industry giants.

Note that earlier Tencent focused on passive investment, acquiring minority stakes in well-known companies. Over the years, the corporation has invested in hundreds of businesses, including Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, and Ubisoft. Now, there are not many studios and publishers in the full ownership of the company, if you throw Riot Games out of the brackets.

The expansion will extend to all regions, but, first of all, will affect gaming assets in Europe. It is also indicated that the new plans of Tencent management are caused by a 64% drop in shares in Hong Kong, as well as a decrease in total capitalization by a record $623 billion, which made the company only second in China.