Chinese investors acquire SNK Playmore

The creators of the Neo Geo and series such as Metal Slug and King of Fighters are under new ownership.

Siliconera reports that a Chinese firm Ledo Millennium, which was co-formed by Chinese online games company Shunrong Sanqi, has agreed to pay $63.5m to acquire an 81.25 per cent share of the company.

The deal will see ownership of the company transferred from CEO and SNK founder Eikichi Kawasaki and his wife Natsuyo Kawasaki.

Oriental Securities CEO Zheng Jianhui, of Ledo’s other partnering company, has said that SNK’s library of IP was the driver behind the deal. He hopes to bring the brands to other media such as manga, anime, TV and movies.

Having established SNK in the late ‘70s, Kawasaki left following its acquisition by Aruze in 2000 to establish Playmore. SNK collapsed into bankruptcy a year later, only for Kawasaki’s Playmore to acquire it, forming SNK Playmore.