Embracer Group Spent $396M on the Rights to Lord of the Rings

Swedish video game company Embracer Group has acquired Middle-earth Enterprises, a division of The Saul Zaentz Company, which owns the intellectual property catalogue and worldwide rights to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The acquisition's financial terms were disclosed in Embracer’s annual report. The company paid nearly $396M for the rights to the motion picture, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage production rights relating to The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit franchises. Embracer also acquired the rights to other Middle-earth-related works which had belonged to the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins.

The report was published a few days after Embracer revealed it would implement a restructuring with imminent layoffs and closures of some divisions. The company will focus on "cost savings, capital allocation, efficiency and consolidation". In a letter to the staff, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors said it will be "painful to see talented team members leave". 

With the promise of "several world-class products" based on the Tolkien universe expected to be delivered in the next two decades and adaptations, the annual report brings good news for Lord of the Rings fans. Embracer said in February that it had reached a multi-year agreement with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures. Currently, Embracer brands also include Dark Horse Comics, which was acquired at the back end of 2021, and a number of tech and video games businesses.

Read the annual report here. Also don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.