Shanda Interactive Entertainment, China's leading operator of online games, is to buy a 29 per cent controlling stake in Korean games developer Actoz Soft for about $92m in cash.

The purchase marks a bold move by Shanda to cement its ties with a company that has been both an important partner and a bitter legal opponent. Actoz, which is listed on Korea's Kosdaq, owns 50 per cent of the copyright for the Legend of Mir II, the hugely popular online game that has been at the heart of Shanda's dramatic growth in recent years.