Take Two Interactive Software has made an offer to buy out Codemasters. The offer, a cash and shares mix of $973.8 million, has been confirmed by Warwickshire-based Codemasters. It sounds like a deal is in its advanced stages and almost complete except for formalities like the approval by respective boards of directors and due diligence. As VentureBeat reports this is more evidence that consolidation in the games industry is a serious trend.
Slightly Mad Studios, the creators of the Project CARS franchise, announced earlier this week that they’re developing a VR-compatible gaming console called ‘Mad Box’. In a follow-up tweet. Slightly Mad Studios 5th Floor Mill House 8 Mill Street London SE1 2BA United Kingdom. PHONE +44 207 252 1843. Slightly Mad Studios is the team behind the critically acclaimed GTR® series, Need For Speed® Shift™ & Shift 2 Unleashed®. It has over 10 years of pedigree in racing games, and Project CARS represents the culmination of all that experience and heritage. In May 2018, Slightly Mad Studios announced the mobile spin-off Project CARS GO, which is being developed by Gamevil. It will feature licensed cars and vehicle customisation. 73 In 2020, Slightly Mad Studios announced Project CARS 3 which was released on August 28 of the same year.
New York based Take Two is cash rich at the moment and well aware of rivals consolidating – like the recent news of Microsoft acquiring Bethesda for $7.5 billion. Thus it has been looking for bargains to complement its developer portfolio. Some would say that Take Two is strong in genres like action games, open world adventures, sports and strategy titles. It owns the likes of 2K and Rockstar Games, for example.
Codemasters is of course best known for racing games, particularly those featuring automobiles and has some great IPs like F1, Dirt, and Grid. Last year it acquired Project Cars and Fast & Furious games maker Slightly Mad Studios for $196 million.
Slightly Mad Studios has been established for 10 years and is the proud developer and owner of the Project CARS franchise which has generated both critical and commercial success.
Take Two has approx 6,000 employees, which includes 4,600 in-house developers. Codemasters has just 750 employees. At the moment Take Two seems to be cash rich with almost $2.4 billion in cash and no debts. Even so, the Codemasters transaction is expected to be a cash/stock offer of about $230 million in cash and $700 million in Take-Two stock.
Both sides appear to be positive about the deal, so it should end up being signed and sealed. Under UK City Code concerning takeovers and mergers Take Two now has until 4th December to commit to its offer or walk away from the process.
Gowling WLG advised Codemasters on its acquisition of racing simulation specialists, Slightly Mad Studios.
The consideration consists of £151m and its associated £20m equity fundraising by way of a placing of new shares.
Codemasters is one of the oldest names in the UK video games industry and listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2018. The company now employs around 700 people globally with offices in London, Birmingham, Southam and Runcorn.
Slightly Mad Studios
Slightly Mad Studios has been established for 10 years and is behind the successful Project CARS franchise. The acquisition will cement Codemasters’ position as a world-leading games developer and publisher of racing videogames.
Gowling WLG Corporate partner Sunil Kakkad (Picture) led the team that advised the company on the acquisition of Slightly Mad Studios and the equity fundraising, which included director Samantha Myers and associate Tom Smith.
Involved fees earner: Sunil Kakkad – Gowling WLG; Samantha Myers – Gowling WLG; Tom Smith – Gowling WLG;
Law Firms: Gowling WLG;
Slightly Mad Studios Stock Price
Clients: Codemasters;