Wargaming Acquires More KongZhong Shares

Source: http://top.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/01/12/2014/5478c633cbb20fd7cfb35ff4

Thanks to Maiorboltach for posting this in RU LJ community.

Wargaming excercised the option of buying 1 million KongZhong ADR’s (American Depositary Receipts) worth 5,94 million USD. For those who do not know, KongZhong is a Chinese company, exclusively producing World of Tanks for the Chinese market – according to Chinese law, you need a Chinese company to do that and so Wargaming partnered with KongZhong. This partnership was by the way the main (perhaps sole) reason for the introduction of the Chinese tank line, which is unsurprisingly popular over there.

Currently, Wargaming controls 4 million ADR’s, which equals to 160 million KongZhong shares. This transaction increased WG’s share of Kongzhong from 6,7 to 8,6 percent. The earlier 6,7 percent was purchased in 2012 (when WG gave KongZhong the exclusive rights for Chinese market) for an estimated sum of 17,8 million USD. Wargaming has the option to buy the 1 more million ADR’s until 2018, which would increase its share in KongZhong to 10,1 percent.

Wargaming of course has the right to recieve dividends from the shares they bought, which in October 2014 was 0,88 USD per ADR. For 4 million ADR’s, that makes 3,5 million USD.

According to the article, Wargaming was looking for a partner in China for quite some time (back then, Chinese gaming market went through some sort of crisis). The main Wargaming goal was to diversify its business and KongZhong, WG’s partner, was one of the largest Chinese game developers, founded in 2002 by Nick Young, a venture investor. The company’s estimated worth currently is cca 298 million USD.

9 thoughts on “Wargaming Acquires More KongZhong Shares”

In Chinese server the Chinese regular branch is not very popular I think.
If you play often you’ll find that some high-tier regular Chinese tanks are very, very scarce in Chinese server, because few of us can get along with their “depression with Chinese characteristics”.
And indeed we get too many Type 59s…Some low-pen t8 mediums like T-44 and Pershing are dying out(forget the unicorns please) just because it’s very hard for them to penetrate a type 59, especially when the type 59 angles its front armor(and every type 59 tends to do this…).

Trans_C on December 3, 2014 at 12:43 pm said:

And recently they even gave everyone a three-day Type 59(yes,everyone, but you needed to log in to their website and click a link) to promote sales….
You cannot imagine what kind of horror I had experienced those days when my 59-16 always ended up in Himmersdorf or Stalingrad with 29 or 28 type 59s…
- LucasFromSweden on December 3, 2014 at 1:31 pm said:
  
  KongZhong sounds like a shit company, even more so than Wargaming
  - Trans_C on December 3, 2014 at 1:51 pm said:
    
    But it’s still MUCH better than some of the largest online game companies in China. They even made a crappy WoT copy recently!
    Pay-to-win is the “core value” of most of the online games in China after all.
    At least WoT is an exception…for now.
- evi7stylez . on December 3, 2014 at 1:51 pm said:
  
  I am so happy, that I am not forced to play on that server :)
  - themuddyside on December 3, 2014 at 2:11 pm said:
    
    No wonder why WG is flattening the maps in 9.5
    - Lexica on December 3, 2014 at 2:38 pm said:
      
      Still, that won’t be enough to make Chinese tanks popular on CN server. People there are more inclined to play OP tanks and Chinese branch (save the 59) is obviously not one of them. The reason is that on CN server you can assume almost everyone has stats display by default. You WILL be flamed or even TK’ed by some for having bad stats, (or, for simply driving a stock tank).
      
      Only way to make them play the Chinese tree is to buff Chinese tanks.
      - Trans_C on December 4, 2014 at 5:25 am said:
        
        Some Chinese vehicles surely need a buff.
        Take the T-34-2 for example, which is hopelessly outmatched by Type 59 in nearly every aspect…
        Given their low popularity however, it’s likely that the buff will never come…
        Btw I hope they buff Pershing a little bit. I love its “capitalist” depression but its penetration just sucks against the Type 59 horde…
        And yes, almost every player in Chinese server has many, many mods installed, even including a mod that removes all the vegetation when you are in the sniper view mode, which is banned by WG iirc.

Awww crap, more Hyper Rich Chinese (communists LOL) and sudo butt-licking Russians (Belarus) buying more houses in London !

Trans_C on December 3, 2014 at 12:30 pm said:

In Chinese server the Chinese regular branch is not very popular I think.
If you play often you’ll find that some high-tier regular Chinese tanks are very, very scarce in Chinese server, because few of us can get along with their “depression with Chinese characteristics”.
And indeed we get too many Type 59s…Some low-pen t8 mediums like T-44 and Pershing are dying out(forget the unicorns please) just because it’s very hard for them to penetrate a type 59, especially when the type 59 angles its front armor(and every type 59 tends to do this…).
- Trans_C on December 3, 2014 at 12:43 pm said:
  
  And recently they even gave everyone a three-day Type 59(yes,everyone, but you needed to log in to their website and click a link) to promote sales….
  You cannot imagine what kind of horror I had experienced those days when my 59-16 always ended up in Himmersdorf or Stalingrad with 29 or 28 type 59s…
  - LucasFromSweden on December 3, 2014 at 1:31 pm said:
    
    KongZhong sounds like a shit company, even more so than Wargaming
    - Trans_C on December 3, 2014 at 1:51 pm said:
      
      But it’s still MUCH better than some of the largest online game companies in China. They even made a crappy WoT copy recently!
      Pay-to-win is the “core value” of most of the online games in China after all.
      At least WoT is an exception…for now.
  - evi7stylez . on December 3, 2014 at 1:51 pm said:
    
    I am so happy, that I am not forced to play on that server :)
    - themuddyside on December 3, 2014 at 2:11 pm said:
      
      No wonder why WG is flattening the maps in 9.5
      - Lexica on December 3, 2014 at 2:38 pm said:
        
        Still, that won’t be enough to make Chinese tanks popular on CN server. People there are more inclined to play OP tanks and Chinese branch (save the 59) is obviously not one of them. The reason is that on CN server you can assume almost everyone has stats display by default. You WILL be flamed or even TK’ed by some for having bad stats, (or, for simply driving a stock tank).
        
        Only way to make them play the Chinese tree is to buff Chinese tanks.
        
        Trans_C on December 4, 2014 at 5:25 am said:
        
        Some Chinese vehicles surely need a buff.
        Take the T-34-2 for example, which is hopelessly outmatched by Type 59 in nearly every aspect…
        Given their low popularity however, it’s likely that the buff will never come…
        Btw I hope they buff Pershing a little bit. I love its “capitalist” depression but its penetration just sucks against the Type 59 horde…
        And yes, almost every player in Chinese server has many, many mods installed, even including a mod that removes all the vegetation when you are in the sniper view mode, which is banned by WG iirc.
Urie van Kerr on December 3, 2014 at 9:08 pm said:

Awww crap, more Hyper Rich Chinese (communists LOL) and sudo butt-licking Russians (Belarus) buying more houses in London !