According to a report by the folks at Sky News, CVC Capital Partners are in exclusive talks to acquire Jagex, the developer of the venerable fantasy MMO, RuneScape, from the Carlyle buyout firm.
Carlyle has owned Jagex since January 2021. According to the report, the firm was weighing an IPO before making the decision to sell the company altogether.
RuneScape launched over 20 years ago and has remained consistently popular in the MMO space, with over 300 million players over its existence.
Sky News sources report that CVC Capital Partners have driven off a number of other bidders vying to acquire a controlling stake in the company and may be on the precipice of signing a formal agreement within days. The auction of Jagex has been ongoing since last year, gaining the interest of a number of trade and financial bidders.
While most are familiar with Jagex for RuneScape, the company has also developed other titles such as This Means Warp and Melvor Idle.
The report also notes that this deal was put into motion by CVC’s sports, media, and entertainment division, who have been exploring opportunities to acquire assets with a significant international fanbase.
