Elisa Oy, sold on Thursday, 17, 60% of the shares of Sulake Corporation Oy to the Dutch company Orange Games. The information is from the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Elisa has been present at Sulake since the beginning of its internationalization process in 2001 and was Sulake's total shareholder since 2013. Now it becomes a minority shareholder again. There is no information on whether soon Sulake's operational control can be transferred to Amsterdam, headquarters of Orange Games.
The announcement of the sale came just over a month after the launch of the Hideaway Hotel, although it had already been in Sulake's plans for more than five years.
The sale of the shares may represent a new strategy for Elisa, since the company intends to maintain representation in the entertainment business. Orange Games is an expert on this subject.
PRESS RELEASE
Helsinki – May 17, 2018 – OrangeGames, a Dutch digital content company, has acquired a majority stake in Helsinki-based game developer Sulake. The studio is best known for developing the global online community, Habbo, and its follow-up Hotel Hideaway, a social avatar world on iOS and Android. Habbo has over 270 million registered accounts since its 2000 launch and Hotel Hideaway has a player base of over 300,000 active monthly users. Telecommunications company Elisa, which previously acquired Sulake in 2013, retains a minority stake.
“We are thrilled to have established this joint venture. We believe the knowledge of the team of Sulake, the global reach of OrangeGames and the strong background of Elisa will make the perfect combination to bring social communities, such as Habbo and Hotel Hideaway to massive audience and enable people to meet and interact in new ways.” said Joost Merks, Board Member at OrangeGames.
“This is an ideal situation. We gain a partner with strong knowledge and distribution in games that will accelerate Sulake’s growth while OrangeGames adds a team with decades of experience in social gaming and two popular live titles to its network,” said Giorgo Paizanis, Director of Corporate Development at Elisa.
“OrangeGames gives us a wider distribution network and resources, allowing Sulake to dedicate more creative and development support to our games,” added Liisa Puurunen, CEO at Sulake. “We look forward to developing new content and experiences with OrangeGames to bolster our growing global gaming communities.”
About the Orange Games
Orange Games is a Dutch company founded in 2015 based in Amsterdam specializing in the development, distribution, publishing and advertising of games. Apart from Amsterdam, the company has offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv and Istanbul. It has more than 200 employees worldwide.
International succesful brands like Governor of Poker, Stratego, Sushi Chef series and Youdagames Series and portals like Spele.nl, Spelletjesoverzicht.nl, Youdagames.com, Zigiz.com, Gembly.com, Games.co.za and Oyungemisi.com are part of its portfolio.
Orange Games is also very succesful with many mobile titles at iOS and Android.
4 replies on “UPDATED - Sulake has been sold”
Make Habbo Great Again.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Acho que finalmente o Habbo volta a crescer
rip habbo.
orange games sell part of actions of sulake and
the end