Tencent launches new social gaming fund worth £480m
Chinese firm also announces new deal with Japanese company Gree
Tencent, China's biggest internet firm and the third largest in the world, has announced two new deals: the founding of a new development fund worth $759.5 million (£480m), and a partnership with Japanese social network company Gree.
The new investment fund will be used to build new opportunities for social, casual and network titles, e-commerce and business ventures. Tencent, the best performing stock on the Hong Kong market this year, is the sole investor in the new fund, Bloomberg reports.
At the end of last year, Tencent topped a Bloomberg top ten of tech companies in terms of growth and prospects, beating Apple to the top spot. It's biggest product is the QQ instant messaging platform, which has over 636 million active accounts.
Gree is one of Japan's top mobile game distributors, and should provide valuable technological insight into the market. The partnership will enable the Japanese company to establish a foothold in the increasingly lucrative Chinese market and allow Tencent to reach new markets in Asia. The companies will share a common development platform, giving developers access to the customers of each with a single product.