(Yicai Global) Aug. 31 -- Zhejiang Jinke Culture Industry Co., Ltd. [SHE:300459], a Chinese internet company plans to acquire a 56 percent stake of the international game developer Outfit7 Investments Limited for USD637.14 million (CNY4.2 billion), the developer of the popular mobile game Talking Tom Cat. 

The acquisition will be undertaken through third parties, with Zhejiang Jinke acquiring all the shares of both Hangzhou Doubao Net Technology Limited and Shaoxing Shang Yu Ma Niu Communication Technology Limited in the form of private placement, at USD637.14 million. Per the announcement issued by Jinke Culture on August 30, these two companies once jointly acquired a 56 percent stake in Outfit7.

Furthermore, Jinke Culture will also raise USD47.18 million through private placement to pay the intermediary charges for the deal and to broker the intellectual property (IP) of Talking Tom and Friends and its ancillary animated characters, per the announcement.

Founded in 2013 in the UK, Outfit7 is a globally famous mobile internet high-tech company famous worldwide. They initially developed the Talking Tom Cat app, an AI-powered anthropomorphic interactive feline that could repeat words spoken by the user. Talking Tom and Friends followed with variations on the same theme and children were able to talk to and interact with characters. So far, total downloads of these applications across all series have exceeded 6.5 billion.

Jinke Culture said that the overseas mobile internet and early education markets are their major business direction. This acquisition will help this company secure the right to use the IP of Talking Tom and Friends, as well as Outfit7's resources and technologies, which will significantly improve the company's market competitiveness.