Exclusive-ByteDance in talks to sell gaming unit Moonton for more than $6 billion, sources say

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, Feb 13 (Reuters) – ByteDance is in advanced talks to sell Shanghai ‌Moonton Technology, the studio behind the ‌popular mobile game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, to Saudi ​Arabia’s Savvy Games Group in a deal valued at between $6 billion and $7 billion, sources said.

A deal could be sealed as soon as ‌this quarter, said ⁠one of the two sources, who have knowledge of the matter. ⁠The two companies have reached initial agreement on broad terms of the deal, said the ​second source.

The ​sources declined to ​be named as ‌they were not authorised to speak to the media.

ByteDance, Moonton and Savvy Games did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Reuters is reporting the deal value and the ‌timeline for the possible ​transaction for the first time.

The ​Moonton sale ​would add to an already busy ‌dealmaking activity in the ​videogame industry, ​as companies race to lock up durable franchises, live-service expertise and large online ​communities.

(Reporting by ‌Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore and Kane Wu ​in Hong Kong; Editing by Sumeet ​Chatterjee and Jane Merriman)