Sony Group has made another $200 million investment in Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine used increasingly in Hollywood production, as part of a $1 billion round of funding for the company.
Epic said the new financing values it at $28.7 billion, adding that the firm “continues to have only a single class of common stock outstanding, and CEO Tim Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder of the company.”
The deal comes after Sony last year acquired a $250 million minority stake in Epic Games. Sony “has made an additional strategic investment of 200 million U.S. dollars in Epic through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sony Corporation of America,” the conglomerate said in a regulatory filing. “By strengthening the already close relationship between the two companies through this additional investment, Sony will further promote efforts across the Sony Group’s businesses to explore collaborative opportunities leading to new value creation, and strive to accelerate business expansion in the area of entertainment.”
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And the company emphasized: “This additional investment is not anticipated to have a material impact on Sony’s consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.”
Other investors in Epic’s new financing round include Appaloosa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research, GIC, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Park West, KKR, AllianceBernstein, Altimeter, Franklin Templeton and Luxor Capital.
“We are grateful to our new and existing investors who support our vision for Epic and the Metaverse,” said Sweeney. “Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys, while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic Online Services and the Epic Games Store.”
“Epic continues to deliver revolutionary experiences through their array of cutting edge technologies that support creators in gaming and across the digital entertainment industry,” said Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, president and CEO of Sony Group. “We are excited to strengthen our collaboration to bring new entertainment experiences to people around the world. I strongly believe that this aligns with our purpose to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology.”
