"We Will Not Change In Any Way"

In the statement made by Embracer Group last week, we learned that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had invested $1 billion in the company through Savvy Gaming Group. After this investment, the Saudi-based company became a shareholder of 8.1% of Embracer Group.

In an open letter to shareholders, business partners, and the workforce, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors made a detailed statement on Saudi Arabia’s surprising $1 billion stakes in the Swedish publisher. Through the Saudi Arabia-owned Savvy Gaming Group (SGG), the kingdom controls 5 percent of the voting shares and 8 percent of the company’s shares.

Embracer CEO Says Principles Will Not Change With Saudi

A new letter has emerged, sent by Embracer Group to its other investors and employees. Right at the beginning, the CEO tried to persuade those concerned. CEO Lars Wingefors wrote:

“I understand and respect that there are different perspectives on this topic. I don’t pretend to have the right answers, but I want to emphasize that this decision was not taken lightly.”

Also, in a statement published by Embracer, CEO Lars Wingefors underlined that the investment will not affect the company’s work. According to Embracer CEO, SGG invested in Embracer to support the vision, strategy, and leadership team – not to change any of that.

In the past few days, he had been asked why he accepted an investment from a non-democratic state. He said as a public company, Embracer Group has hundreds of institutions and investors from around the world, including investors from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Highlights from the description are as follows:

“Embracer is built on the principles of freedom, inclusion, humanity and openness. The transaction with SGG will not change this in any way. Embracer is still controlled by the people working in our Group. Together, we control a significant majority of the votes in the company.

SGG will own slightly more than 5 percent of the votes and 8 percent of the capital and they have invested in Embracer because they support our current vision, strategy, and leadership, not to change it.”

What do you think about Saudi’s investment in Embracer? You can share your thought with us in the comments section.