Embracer CEO says decision to accept $1 billion from Saudi state "not taken lightly"

gamedeveloper.com:

Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors has shared a lengthy statement to explain why the company recently accepted a $1 billion investment from Savvy Gaming Group (SSG).

The cash injection raised eyebrows due to the fact SSG is owned by Saudi Arabia's state-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF).

PIF is chaired by Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman Al-Saud, who has been linked with the assassination of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and accused of torturing human rights activists.

In the statement, Wingefors said he has "received many questions" as to why Embracer sanctioned the deal, adding that he might not have "the right answers."

Even so, the chief exec said he wanted to make it clear that the "decision was not taken lightly" and acknowledged there are "different views on the topic."

"I have been asked over the past few days why we are accepting investment from an entity in a non-democratic country. To start, we need to look ourselves in the mirror, we are a public company and already have many hundreds of institutions from all parts of the world as shareholders, including investors from the Middle East and Africa (MENA) and Asia region," wrote Wingefors.

"Many of them have participated in the capital raising during the past years. Many others have joined over the open market. During the process, we have learned that the SGG parent, PIF, is one of the world’s largest investors, including sizeable ownership in many of our larger gaming peers.

"We genuinely believe that SGG, a fully commercial entity, has ambitions within gaming that are genuine in supporting the global ecosystem for our industry that are consistent with and important to the values and culture of our industry."

Wingefors claimed the deal won't