It was just over a month ago that Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of both Grand Theft Auto’s Rockstar Games and Borderland’s 2K Games, looked set to acquire UK studio Codemasters. While the deal was yet to be finalised, a fee of $994 million had been agreed and it looked as though it was all but complete. In a shocking turn of events, however, that deal now looks to be off the table, as EA has confirmed they have reached a deal to buy the company for a staggering $1.2 billion.
In their statement, EA said:
“We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans. Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment. We have admired Codemasters’ creative talent and high-quality games for many years. With the full leverage of EA’s technology, platform expertise, and global reach, this combination will allow us to grow our existing franchises and deliver more industry-defining racing experiences to a global fan base. We are pleased that both our Boards of Directors are recommending this transaction, and we look forward to welcoming such an exciting and talented team to the Electronic Arts family,”
With news of EA’s offer, the Codemasters board has recommended that Take Two’s offer be withdrawn, saying:
“In evaluating the EA Offer, the Codemasters Board has considered various aspects of the EA Offer and considers the EA Offer to represent a superior offer for Codemasters’ shareholders as compared with the Take-Two Offer,”
EA hopes the acquisition will “enable further growth and success for Codemasters and EA’s popular and innovative racing franchises” and that the expertise within the two teams will “enable our teams to innovate further, and meaningfully increase the delivery of content and experiences to a growing, global audience for racing entertainment.”
Codemasters are best known for their work on the F1 franchise, as well as the DiRT series of games, while EA also has a large repertoire of racing games under their belt that includes the popular Need for Speed franchise.
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