Two Tencent directors have left Epic Games’ board of directors after the US Department of Justice “raised concerns” about their positions.
In a statement posted on the US Department of Justice website, the report said the department believed the appointment to the boards of Epic and Tencent violated Section 8 of the Clayton Act, an antitrust law that seeks protect consumers from practices that could be harmful.
The law states that directors and officers must not simultaneously serve on the boards of competing companies, such as Epic and Riot.
Accordingly, Tencent has amended its shareholder agreement with Epic to “give up its unilateral right to appoint directors or observers” on the latter’s board of directors, given that it owns a minority stake in Epic and is at the same time the parent company of the Epic competitor, Riot Games.
“Scrutiny around interlocking addresses remains a law enforcement priority for the Antitrust Division,” said the department’s deputy director of civil law enforcement, Miriam R. Vishio.
“Due to the hard work of our tremendous staff, our increased Section 8 enforcement in recent years has achieved substantial results and has become part of our fabric.”
Tencent is said to be holding off on its involvement in buying Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft and increasing its stake in Ubisoft until it has been promised greater influence over future board decisions.
