An agreement has been struck that will see Electronic Arts acquire Codemasters for an approximate cost of $1.2 billion.The acquisition is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021. At a price of $7.98 per share, EA outbid competitor Take-Two Interactive, which had previously submitted a near-billion dollar offer.
“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,” said Gerhard Florin, Chairman of Codemasters, in a statement.
Original story: Electronic Arts is allegedly attempting to outbid Take-Two Interactive’s nearly $1 billion offer to acquire Codemasters, the developers behind the Dirt, F1, and Project Cars racing franchises.
As reported by Sky News, EA has “tabled a potentially knockout bid for Codemasters, trumping an offer agreed last month with Take-Two Interactive Software, maker of the Red Dead franchise.”
Take-Two’s attempt to acquire Codemasters was announced in November, and EA is said to be looking to outbid the £725 million (~$969 Million USD) offer that was placed.
While EA’s offer has not been revealed, Sky News notes that it is working with bankers at UBS on its offer and that it will likely to be disclosed to the stock market on Monday, December 14, and will be a “substantial premium to Codemasters’ closing share price on Friday of 534p.”
Take-Two’s offer is a cash-and-shares deal, which means that the value of the proposal fluctuates depending on the stock market. Additionally, certain fund managers who own Codemasters have “reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Take-Two deal because of its equity component and the comparatively modest premium it represented to the British company’s undisturbed share price.”