Leyou
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games, Holding company |
| Predecessor | Sumpo Food Holdings Limited |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Lin Qinglin |
| Fate | Acquired by Tencent in December 2020 |
| Successor | Tencent (parent company) |
| Headquarters | Admiralty, Hong Kong , Hong Kong |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Lin Qinglin (Chairman and CEO, until acquisition), Xu (CEO until April 2021) |
| Products | Video game development and publishing (Digital Extremes, Splash Damage, Radiance Games, Certain Affinity, Athlon Games) |
| Owner | Tencent (since December 2020) |
| Parent | Tencent |
Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited (), previously known as Sumpo Food Holdings Limited, is a Chinese holding company specializing in video games, with its headquarters located at the Lippo Centre in Admiralty, Hong Kong. Established in 2010, the company originally engaged in poultry farming through its subsidiary Fujian Sumpo, which was founded in 1998. After its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2011, the firm experienced a decline in poultry-related income starting from 2013. Subsequently, it pivoted towards the gaming sector by securing a controlling interest in Digital Extremes in October 2014, adopting the Leyou name in January 2015, and finalizing that acquisition later the same year. Leyou broadened its gaming assets by purchasing Splash Damage in July 2016, divesting from poultry operations concurrently, acquiring a majority stake in Radiance Games, investing in Certain Affinity during 2017, and launching Athlon Games in 2018. In December 2020, Leyou was acquired by Tencent.
Poultry beginnings (1998–2011)
Lin Qinglin founded Xiamen Xian Wu Modern Office Facilities Operation Company in 1985 and managed it until 1998. Motivated by investment incentives from Longyan’s local government during the late 1990s, Lin established Xiamen Sumpo Group Limited in June 1998 and created Sumpo (Longyan) Industrial Co. Ltd., focusing on chicken products, animal feed, and seedlings. Its clientele included prominent fast-food franchises such as McDonald's, KFC, and Dicos within mainland China. In 2003, Lin Qinglin resigned as chairman of Sumpo (Longyan) Industrial to focus on Xiamen Sumpo; his brother Lin Qingrong then assumed leadership and renamed the company Fujian Sumpo Foods Holdings Co., Ltd. in 2007. Later that year, Lin Qinglin returned as chairman amid corporate restructuring that expanded production capacity to 10,000 tons of meat and 180,000 tons of branded seedlings annually, achieving a net profit of in 2009.
On 22 February 2010, Sumpo Food Holdings Limited was established as a holding company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and acquired the remaining 90% ownership of Fujian Sumpo. It debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2011 at a price of per share. Lin Qinglin held the positions of chairman and CEO and was the largest shareholder with 642 million shares; his son Lin Genghua owned an additional 167 million shares, together valued at .
Transition to gaming (2013–2015)
Due to financial losses beginning in 2013 driven by stiff competition within animal breeding markets, Sumpo Food Holdings diversified into the video game industry. The company initially attempted to acquire an unnamed Japanese developer—speculated to be SNK—but this effort did not materialize. Alex Xu, chief business officer at Perfect World, noted that Sumpo Food Holdings was "nearly out of business" by early 2014. Perfect World aimed to acquire Canadian developer Digital Extremes but hesitated to allocate internal funds because of plans to delist from the Nasdaq. Instead, Perfect World facilitated Sumpo Food Holdings’ acquisition of Digital Extremes. In October 2014, Sumpo secured a controlling interest of 58%, while an additional 3% stake was sold to Perfect Online—Perfect World's subsidiary—for a combined .
In January 2015, Sumpo Food Holdings adopted the new name Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited. The acquisition of Digital Extremes was finalized by July that year. By the end of 2015, gaming activities accounted for 70% of Leyou’s gross profit even though poultry still represented approximately 80% of total revenue. Leyou purchased the remaining 39% stake in Digital Extremes in May 2016 for . In July 2016, via its UK-based subsidiary Radius Maxima, Leyou acquired three companies founded by CEO Paul Wedgwood: game developer Splash Damage, backend services provider Fireteam, and multiplayer-focused publisher WarChest.
Divestment from poultry and Tencent acquisition (2016–present)
In 2016, Perfect World's effort to acquire Leyou encountered obstacles and ultimately did not succeed. By August of that year, Leyou sold off its entire poultry division for , transferring ownership to the spouse of Lin Qinglin. Following this, in October, CP Pokphand Co., largely controlled by Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Foods, purchased a 70% share of Fujian Sumpo for . During that fiscal period, Fujian Sumpo reported in revenue but recorded a net loss. By 2017, Leyou's majority shares were held by a private investor, and Xu returned as CEO after his departure from Perfect World.
Leyou broadened its gaming portfolio by acquiring a 51% interest in Guangzhou Radiance Software Technology Co. Ltd. (Radiance Games), a Chinese developer, for in July 2017. Later that year, in October, it invested to secure a 20% stake in the American game studio Certain Affinity. In May 2018, Leyou established the California-based publishing company Athlon Games. Athlon obtained a long-term license from Middle-earth Enterprises to publish an online free-to-play title set in the The Lord of the Rings universe. In July 2019, Amazon Game Studios partnered as co-developer and global publisher, with Leyou responsible for distribution in China and Taiwan. That same year, Athlon released Samurai Shodown and became both a shareholder and publishing collaborator of LCG Entertainment, which acquired the assets of the defunct Telltale Games.
By 2019, Leyou was exploring potential buyers amid proposals from iDreamSky—18.6% owned by conglomerate Tencent—and CVC Capital Partners, though negotiations were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, Zhejiang Century Huatong entered into a non-binding merger agreement with Leyou. Additionally, Sony and Tencent reportedly showed interest in acquiring the company. By August 2020, Tencent was approaching finalization of an acquisition agreement.
Tencent's purchase received approval from Leyou shareholders on 11 December 2020 and was finalized on 23 December through Tencent’s subsidiary Image Frame Investment under a . Following this acquisition, disagreements between Tencent and Amazon led to the cancellation of The Lord of the Rings game project in April 2021. The takeover also triggered substantial turnover among employees at Leyou’s Beijing and Shanghai offices, including CEO Xu who departed in April 2021.