‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Owner Embracer To Split Business Into Three
The company that owns rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise is dividing its business.
Embracer Group has unveiled plans to split into three operations: games publisher Asmodee Group, indie gaming label Coffee Stain & Friends and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, which will house the Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider rights.
Each company will be publicly listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, but Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends will remain within the current listed Embracer Group, which will be renamed. Embracer has also entered into a €900M ($959M) financing agreement with Asmodee, which will partly go on repaying debts.
Embracer’s largest shareholder, CEO Lars Wingefors, is planning on a “new long-term ownership structure” and will remain “a long-term, active, committed and supportive owner of all three entities.” Shareholders representing more than 50% of the capital and votes are supporting the plan.
Embracer has been working on a restructuring program since June last year, focusing on cost savings, capital allocation, efficiencies and consolidation, while also selling businesses such as Borderlands franchise owner Gearbox Entertainment to Take-Two Interactive. The company owns or controls 9,003 franchises in areas such as comics and gaming.
Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends will focus on gaming development and publishing for PC and console, as well as managing the Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider franchises. Embracer claimed the new structure will allow it to have “a better structure to maximize the potential of its highly strategic franchises.”
It will house several gaming levels such as Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Eidos-Montréal, Flying Wild Hog Studios, Tripwire, Vertigo Games, Warhorse Studios and 4A Games, and own the IP to the likes of Dead Island, Killing Floor and Metro.
Phil Rogers will take the leading role at Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friend in the process leading up to the split. He is currently interim Group Chief Strategy Officer, with responsibility for the concluded restructuring program, and CEO of the operative group Crystal Dynamics – Eidos. Operating group CEOs at several labels will report to him, stating today.
Further moves will see Rogers, Stéphane Carville and Anton Westbergh appointed to the executive management of Embracer Group. Wingefors remains Group CEO, Johan Ekström is Group CFO and deputy CEO, Careen Yapp is Chief Strategic Partnership Officer and Ian Gulam is Chief of Staff, Legal & Governance.
Sweden-based Embracer acquired Middle-earth Enterprises, which owns the IP behind The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in August 2022, paying almost $400M for them. Amazon has acquired the TV rights to The Lord of the Rings in 2017, committing a $1B for a five-season series. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Fire launched on the streamer in September 2022. Season 2 is due to launch this year.
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