Take-Two Interactive is in talks to acquire Codemasters

[Matrix]

Recap: The British video game developer and publisher was founded in 1986 by brothers David and Richard Darling and has put out a steady stream of content ever since. Many of the company’s early works were simulators, sports and racing games, a theme that has persisted over the years as evident by more recent offerings like the Dirt and F1 franchises.

Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that it recently submitted a proposal to acquire Codemasters.

 

Take-Two, which owns Rockstar Games and 2K, is the third-largest publicly traded game company (in the Americas and Europe) behind Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts. The firm said it is willing to pay approximately $6.40 per share for Codemasters, consisting of approximately $1.58 in cash and $4.82 per share in Take-Two stock. The total value of the deal would be $973.8 million, according to VentureBeat.

 

 

It’s worth reiterating that the proposal isn’t a firm offer and that the deal could still fall through. As of now, it is contingent upon Take-Two completing due diligence and board approval.

 

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a recent earnings call that there has been a lot of acceleration lately with regards to mergers and acquisitions in the space, specifically citing Microsoft’s purchase of Bethesda.

 

“You’re going to continue to see increased M&A activity, just because of the heat around the category and capital that is being deployed by big companies,” Zelnick said. “We have almost $2.4 billion in cash. We have no debt. We are anxious to build our business aggressively.”

 

Take-Two has until December 4, 2020, to either announce its intention to make an offer or pull out.

 

Source