EA will acquire racing game developer Codemasters for $1.2 billion USD bid that bests a $1 billion offer by Take-Two.
A
press release from EA indicates the acquisition will be “completed in the first quarter of calendar 2021.”
EA also said “the combination of EA and Codemasters will enable further growth and success for Codemasters and EA’s popular and innovative racing franchises.” Said franchises include EA’s
Need for Speed and
Real Racing alongside Codemasters’
F1, DiRT, DiRT Rally, Grid and
Project CARS.
Gerhard Florin, the Chairman of Codemasters, said:
Electronic Arts and Codemasters have a shared ambition to lead the video game racing category. The Board of Codemasters firmly believes the company would benefit from EA’s knowledge, resources and extensive global scale – both overall and specifically within the racing sector. 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.
Take-Two’s initial bid of $1 billion USD was approved by Codemasters’ board, but was bested by EA’s last-minute offer.
Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, said:
We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans. Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment. We have admired Codemasters’ creative talent and high-quality games for many years. With the full leverage of EA’s technology, platform expertise, and global reach, this combination will allow us to grow our existing franchises and deliver more industry-defining racing experiences to a global fan base. We are pleased that both our Boards of Directors are recommending this transaction, and we look forward to welcoming such an exciting and talented team to the Electronic Arts family.
Codemasters’ CEO, CFO and senior executive management team “intend to remain with Codemasters following the completion of the acquisition and will continue to lead the Codemasters business with EA’s organisation.”
What do you make of the acquisition?
Glad I could help!