US-based EA will challenge Take-Two Interactive over its bid for Codemasters, the studio behind the Dirt and F1 series. It was just last month in November that Codemasters announced they had been approached by Take-Two Interactive for acquisition, in a deal valued around $994 million.
The stock and cash deal was expected to close in early 2021 and Codemasters would begin operations under the 2k label with existing leadership. The value of EA's current offer is still unknown, and they've come in at the final minute of the last hour to stop the deal between Codemasters and Take-Two Interactive from proceeding.
Take-Two Interactive, home to games like Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto, was willing to pay nearly $1 billion for Codemasters and its library of titles like F1, Dirt, and Grid. The bid from EA means contending with a player that Take-Two likely does not have the capital to compete with, but for now the value of EA's offer is still an unknown and not likely to be disclosed until Monday.
It's unclear at the moment if Take-Two will offer a counterbid to Codemasters to keep their current plans intact. According to Sky News, some fund managers with ownership in Codemasters shares were already dissatisfied with the structure of the Take-Two Interactive deal, so EA's undoubtedly sizeable offer may come as good news to disgruntled shareholders.
There's no word from Codemasters, EA, or Take-Two Interactive just yet, but further details should become clearer when usual business days resume tomorrow. Regardless, it will be interesting to watch any bidding war play out and see just where Codemasters lands and how an acquisition will dictate the future of some of the racing giant's competitive properties.
Story developing.
Source: Sky News