US publishing giant Take-Two has confirmed that it is in discussions with UK racing specialist Codemasters about an acquisition.
In a post on its investor relations page, the GTA parent firm said that it has made a proposal to the British development icon, which would value the company at a whopping £740m, or close to $1bn. A quarter of this would be paid out in cash, while the other 75 per cent takes the form of Take-Two stock.
Take-Two has until 5pm on December 4th to say whether or not it is actually going to buy Codemasters.
"Take-Two 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," both companies said in their respective statements.
"Take-Two believes that it can bring benefits to Codemasters performance by leveragingTake-Two global distribution and 2K's core operating expertise in publishing, including, live operations, analytics, product development, and brand and performance marketing."
This would be a huge purchase for the Grand Theft Auto company. Codemasters doesn't own much in the way of IP, but it is viewed as one of the best racing game firms in the world and has the rights to some pretty huge properties. This includes the F1 license – which it has until 2025 – and the FIA World Rally Championship IP.
Codemasters purchased Slightly Mad Studios in November of last year.
The firm went public in 2018 and has since been trying to free itself from its previous owner, India's Reliance Entertainment. As of June 2019, that company owns just 14.2 per cent of Codemasters.
