Embracer Group bought 27 studios in just 12 months. Analysts ask: "What happens when they run out of targets?”

Swedish holding Embracer Group has been growing rapidly thanks to its strong M&A performance. The question is what will happen when there are no more targets for the company’s future acquisitions?

That’s what some analysts have been thinking for a while. According to Bloomberg, Embracer Group announced 27 deals over the course of 12 months. And it has no plans to slow down.

This expansion helped the Swedish holding increase its market capitalization to $12.4 billion, a 30-fold increase since it went public in 2016. It is now one of the biggest game companies in Europe, outshining Ubisoft which has a market value of $7.6 billion.

Despite the positive trend, Bloomberg Intelligence technology analyst Matthew Kanterman is concerned about potential risks.

“The big risk for inorganic growth stories in the games industry has always been what happens when they run out of targets — can they grow organically?” he questions. “I don’t think we’re at that point yet with Embracer but it’s something to consider down the road.”

As for now, Embracer Groupo controls 69 studios, with 7,000 employees and over 200 games in development. For comparison, the holding had only 374 people in 2016, before it started to buy other companies.