Ford Takes $19.5 Billion Charge as EV Strategy Shifts Toward Hybrids 
SUPERFORTUNE Launches AI-Powered Mobile App, Expanding Beyond Web3 Into $392 Billion Metaphysics Market 
SpaceX Begins IPO Preparations as Wall Street Banks Line Up for Advisory Roles 
Robinhood Expands Sports Event Contracts With Player Performance Wagers 
Coca-Cola’s Proposed Sale of Costa Coffee Faces Uncertainty Amid Price Dispute 
HSBC’s $13.6 Billion Take-Private Offer for Hang Seng Bank Gains Board Backing 
Fortescue Expands Copper Portfolio With Full Takeover of Alta Copper 
CMOC to Acquire Equinox Gold’s Brazilian Mines in $1 Billion Deal to Expand Precious Metals Portfolio 
MetaX IPO Soars as China’s AI Chip Stocks Ignite Investor Frenzy 
Woolworths Faces Fresh Class Action Over Alleged Underpayments, Shares Slide 
Treasury Wine Estates Shares Plunge on Earnings Warning Amid U.S. and China Weakness 
Amazon in Talks to Invest $10 Billion in OpenAI as AI Firm Eyes $1 Trillion IPO Valuation 
iRobot Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Amid Rising Competition and Tariff Pressures 
Strategy Retains Nasdaq 100 Spot Amid Growing Scrutiny of Bitcoin Treasury Model 
Korea Zinc Plans $6.78 Billion U.S. Smelter Investment With Government Partnership 
Biren Technology Targets Hong Kong IPO to Raise $300 Million Amid China’s AI Chip Push 
Trump Sues BBC for Defamation Over Edited Capitol Riot Speech Clip 
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, just announced its biggest acquisition to date. The Chinese tech company just bought Moonton Technology, the game developer and publisher of the worldwide hit multiplayer online battle “Mobile Legends.”
ByteDance acquired Moonton through its video game subsidiary Nuverse. The decision to purchase the gaming studio is part of the company’s aim to further expand in the video games business.
The value of the deal
As mentioned on Reuters, ByteDance purchased Moonton for $4 billion, and this huge investment is to start growing the company’s video game division and become Tencent, another Chinese company, a competitor in the field.
“Through cross-team collaboration and drawing on lessons and insights from its own rapid growth, Moonton provides the strategic support needed to accelerate Nuverse’s global gaming offerings,” the TikTok owner said in a statement.
While Moonton Technolgy is now owned by ByteDance, it was reported that it will still continue to run independently. This information surfaced after Moonton’s CEO, Yuan Jing’s memo to its employees, stated that the company would operate separately from the Beijing-headquartered tech firm after the acquisition process is completed.
In any case, Moonton was founded by a former employee of Tencent. The company’s most famous and biggest game in Southeast Asia is its “Mobile Legends'' online game. Thus, with the deal, this game title is now under ByteDance and could compete with Tencent’s “League of Legends.”
Taking on Tencent with the acquisition
Moonton’s “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” already has more than 1 billion downloads in November 2020, and this figure apparently gives ByteDance, a game that it can use to take on its rivals in the gaming and esports scene. It is not just Tencent, but the company can now compete with other leading gaming firms now.
“Moonton is definitely ByteDance’s best purchase as yet, whether in terms of scale or reputation in the industry,” South China Morning Post quoted Liao Xuhua, an analyst from Beijing market research firm, as saying. “In the short term, Moonton can very effectively strengthen ByteDance’s gaming business.
