Reports Emerge of Carlyle Group Exploring Sale of Jagex

According to recent reports, Carlyle Group, the owner of Jagex, is considering the sale of the RuneScape developer, merely two years after acquiring it. Sources familiar with the matter have indicated to Reuters that Carlyle is weighing its options, which include either selling the company outright or taking it public. The group has enlisted the services of advisors from Aream & Co and Morgan Stanley to explore these possibilities, with plans to initiate an auction process later in the year. It is anticipated that private equity firms will be among the potential buyers, as they could utilize Jagex as a means to acquire a portfolio of smaller gaming businesses. The valuation of Jagex is expected to reach as high as £1 billion. However, this process is still in its infancy, and the sources caution that a deal is far from certain, given its dependence on prevailing market conditions. Jagex has undergone significant changes in ownership over the past decade, having been acquired by a consortium of Chinese investors in 2016, before being sold to Macarthur Fortune Holding in 2020 for $530 million, and eventually being acquired by the Carlyle Group the following year. Furthermore, Jagex has also been actively engaged in its own acquisition efforts, having purchased US-based Pipeworks and Croatian developer Gamepires in 2022.