According to reports, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games and 2K has decided to withdraw its initial offer for the acquisition of Codemasters.
Take-Two Interactive announced back on November 11, 2020, an agreement with Codemasters for the acquisition of the studio for £750 million ($980 million). The deal was about to be official in Q1 2021, but Take-Two Interactive was outbid by Electronic Arts who are willing to pay $1.2 billion for Codemasters.
Take-Two reportedly told investors via a statement that they allowed to lapse its offer. The large company will look for an alternative as it was suggested in the official document: (Take-Two will) “continue to pursue selectively organic and inorganic opportunities that are designed to enhance the company’s long-term growth and deliver results to its shareholders.”
Electronic Arts is expected to finalize the deal during this first quarter of the financial year, each share of the UK publisher will be acquired for $7.98
Gerhard Florin, Chairman of Codemasters affirmed that Electronic Arts and Codemasters share a common ambition to lead the video games racing category. “We feel this union would provide an exciting and prosperous future for Codemasters, allowing our teams to create, launch and service bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience” Affirmed Florin.
Andrew Wilson, CEO at Electronic Arts also shared an official statement about the key acquisition:
“Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment.”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.”
By acquiring Codemasters, Electronic Arts will now have racing games based on Formula One, Dirt, Grid, and Project Cars games designed for a much mature audience than Real Racing, Burnout, and Need For Speed.
Codemasters will retain some of its management as it’s confirmed that CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia will remain in their roles when the acquisition is official. Other senior executives of the management team have also been confirmed.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
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