Johannesburg - Chinese internet company Tencent has bought a 14.6% stake in mobile game developer Glu Mobile - the maker of hit application ‘Kim Kardashian: Hollywood’.
The deal is worth $126m as Tencent is buying 12.5 million shares in Glu Mobile. Tencent further plans to acquire 8.5 million more shares in a second tranche in the future, Glu Mobile has said in a statement.
San Francisco based Glu Mobile is well known for its Kim Kardashian app, which has over 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Glu Mobile told the New York Times that the app made $1.6m in revenue during its first five days in June last year.
The gaming app is also among the top grossing games on the Apple App Store.
Glu Mobile’s deal with Tencent is expected to help the maker of the Kim Kardashian game expand its business in China.
Glu Mobile's other gaming hits include the likes of 'Deer Hunter'. The company has also reportedly signed a deal with pop star Britney Spears to make another celebrity game.
Glu Mobile is listed on New York’s Nasdaq, and the company’s share price was up over 5% at the close of trade of Wednesday at $5.40.
*Fin24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers. Naspers has a 34% stake in Tencent.