The Japanese multinational corporation Sony bought a 42% stake in the American television channel Game Show Network from the U.S. telecoms giant AT&T for $380 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 18.
Now Sony owns 100% of the stakes in GSN, which includes GSN Games operating in Ukraine.
GSN Games is an arm of the firm that develops casual games for mobile users and employs about 80 specialists in Kyiv who work from an office on Pavla Tychyny Avenue.
The Kyiv office of GSN Games refused to comment on the deal in its immediate aftermath.
Ironically, both Sony and AT&T wanted to sell GSN to someone else in January 2019, but they could not find a buyer. At the time, Sony owned 58% of GSN while AT&T controlled the remaining 42%. GSN was valued between $600 and $700 million.
AT&T is selling its non-profile assets due to heavy debt it incurred after acquiring Time Warner in 2016 for nearly $109 billion. At the beginning of 2019, AT&T’s debt rose to $170 billion.
Due to the deal, Game Show Network, which largely runs TV quiz shows in the United States, is boasting of a valuation at about $900 million.
As broadcasters grapple with consumer shifts towards internet streaming, Sony believes in Game Show Network’s tested ability to deliver through cable, with 90% of the company’s revenue coming from advertisers and only a small proportion of its revenue from fees paid to TV providers.
In addition to the $380 million paid by Sony, AT&T will receive an additional $120 million that was left on Game Show Network’s books when the agreement took place.
