Savvy Gaming Group could get a seat on Embracer's board of directors

Savvy Gaming Group's $1 billion investment could earn it a seat on Embracer Group's board of directors, provided shareholders agree.

Saudi Arabia's $100 billion Public Investment Fund recently bought $1 billion worth of Embracer Group shares. The games company recognizes the PIF, which is run by Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, as a long-term investor into its business.

In a lengthy email, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors defends the company's decision to "accept investment from a non-Democratic country" and that he believes Savvy Gaming Group will "genuinely support the global ecosystem for our industry."

The email also states that Wingefors would welcome Savvy Gaming Group's CEO Brian Ward onto Embracer Group's board of directors--pending shareholder approval. Ward has tremendous experience in the games industry and has been part of Microsoft's games division, Activision, and Electronic Arts.

"Questions have been asked about a potential board seat. Ultimately this is a question for shareholders. However, I think it would be relevant to share my view. Brian has a deep industry knowledge that is valuable to Embracer, and I would be supportive if he personally would like to contribute to the board at a later date as long as he is committed to the time needed," Wingefors said in the email.

This expansion has required capital and we have thanks to our shareholders been able to raise approximately USD 2.5 billion since our IPO 2016. In order to stay as an independent company based in Sweden, we have been searching for more international long-term partners with capital that supports our strategy.

For Embracer, there is only a handful of players in the world providing this type of sizable long-term equity capital. Without capital, our journey would notably slow down going forward which could also have many other implications for our businesses. SGG is providing very long-term capital to support our strategy without Embracer having to give up our way of operating or other commercial opportunities.