Report: Embracer might sell Gearbox two years after $1.38 billion acquisition

gamedeveloper.com:

Embracer is reportedly considering the sale of Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment just over two years after it  purchased the company for $1.38 billion.

According to a report from Reuters, the Swedish conglomerate is exploring a sale with the help of Goldman Sachs and Aream & Co and has already received interest from two unnamed parties.

Marketing materials have apparently been made available to potential buyers, which two people familiar with the matter claimed mainly consist of international gaming groups.

Embracer and Goldman Sachs declined to comment when approached by Reuters.

Gearbox has expanded significantly under the Embracer banner. Last year, Embracer turned Eidos Shanghai into Gearbox Studio Shanghai, sanctioned the acquisition of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands developer Lost Boys Interactive, and rebranded Perfect World Entertainment as Gearbox Publishing.

Back in 2021, shortly after it was purchased by Embracer, Gearbox also opened a Montreal studio to work on Borderlands and new franchises. More recently, the company bought 3D tech firm Captured Dimensions and secured the rights to the Risk of Rain franchise.

Those deals, however, were made before Embracer announced it would making a number of layoffs to pivot away from its "current heavy-investment model" to become a "highly cash-flow generative business."

Announcing a restructuring program in June, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said the company needed to become more "self-sufficient" and "focused." To achieve that goal, he explained Embracer would be shuttering or downsizing a number of studios and pausing or scrapping ongoing development projects with "low projected returns."

"We need to better leverage our scale, the quality of our portfolio and our