Take-Two in Talks to Purchase Codemasters for £740 Million

In the gaming industry, the next takeover is obviously imminent. There are reports of advanced talks between Take-Two and Codemasters.

In these recent hours, it was reported that Take-Two is not ruling out taking over one or the other studio. With this statement, the CEO Strauss Zelnick apparently had the first company in mind: It is Codemasters, which is responsible for games like DiRT 5 and F1 2020.

The website VGC reports on an internal statement in which a non-binding proposal is made to acquire the entire share capital of Codemasters. The possible offer depends, among other things, on completing due diligence. Should Take-Two make the offer official, Codemasters’s board would like to unanimously recommend that shareholders accept the offer.

In the statement sent to VGC, Take-Two emphasizes that the publisher “believes that the combination of Take-Two and Codemasters would bring together two world-class interactive entertainment portfolios, with a highly complementary fit between 2K and Codemasters in the racing genre.”

Take-Two believes that the publisher can deliver benefits to Codemasters’ performance by providing “2K’s core operating expertise in publishing, including, live operations, analytics, product development, and brand and performance marketing.”

Take-Two Interactive is the parent company of 2K Games, Rockstar Games, and Private Division. While the final confirmation is pending, the latest deal is worth nearly £740 Million, according to The Time reporter Tom Howard.