Nintendo has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding shares of the Vancouver, Canada-based Next Level Games to make it a wholly owned subsidiary, the company announced. The acquisition is expected to close on March 1.
Next Level Games has developed a number of a Nintendo titles in the past, including Super Mario Strikers for GameCube, Mario Strikers Charged and Punch-Out!! for Wii, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for 3DS, and Luigi’s Mansion 3 for Switch.
Here is the full context of acquisition, via Nintendo:
“Next Level Games is a video game development company based in Vancouver, Canada which has nearly two decades of experience creating video games for various console platforms. More recently, Next Level Games has worked exclusively with Nintendo in developing software titles for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch systems, including titles in the critically acclaimed Luigi’s Mansion series of video games.
Next Level Games’s shares are currently held entirely by its owner-directors and employees. A number of owner-directors recently determined that the time is right for them to sell their shares, and Next Level Games therefore began exploring potential sale transactions. Completion of the Acquisition will serve to secure the availability of Next Level Games development resources for Nintendo, including development expertise, as well as facilitate an anticipated improvement in development speed and quality by enabling closer communication and exchange of staff with the Nintendo development team.
The Acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2021, pending satisfaction of all relevant terms and conditions, including shareholders’ approval, regulatory approval under the Investment Canada Act and other customary closing conditions.”