HONG KONG—Tencent Holdings Ltd. is nearing a more than $9 billion deal to buy Supercell Oy, the Finnish maker of the popular "Clash of Clans" mobile game that could make the Chinese internet giant a global powerhouse in the online mobile game industry, according to people familiar with the situation.

Tencent is close to finalizing a deal with SoftBank Group Corp. to buy the Japanese telecommunications maker's majority stake in Supercell and is in discussions with several financial investors, including Hillhouse Capital Group, to join in the purchase as co-investors, the people said. Supercell's exact valuation was unclear, but people familiar with the situation said that the company would be worth more than $9 billion.

A deal, if finalized, would be the Chinese firm's largest to date, the people said. The deal could be announced as early as next week though it could still fall apart as the Chinese internet company puts together its financing package, the people cautioned.

Supercell, Tencent and SoftBank declined to comment. Hillhouse didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

Supercell was valued at roughly $5.25 billion last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. SoftBank first bought a 51% stake in the Finnish gaming company for US$1.53 billion in 2013. Last year, SoftBank raised its stake to 73% but didn't disclose the price of the transaction after Supercell's outstanding shares received interest from a Chinese fund, the person said.

Matthias Verbergt in Helsinki contributed to this article.

Write to Rick Carew at rick.carew@wsj.com and Wayne Ma at wayne.ma@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 15, 2016 12:35 ET (16:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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