Take-Two Interactive no longer bidding on Codemasters, will continue to pursue "inorganic" opportunities

What you need to know

• Take-Two Interactive looked to acquire Codemasters but was outbid by EA.
• Take-Two Interactive announced today that it is letting its offer on Codemasters lapse.
• This means EA can acquire Codemasters without interference.

Back in November 2020, Take-Two Interactive looked to acquire racing publisher Codemasters with a $973 million bid in cash and stock. This deal was then upset by EA announcing a $1.2 billion bid on Codemasters, which Take-Two Interactive has now responded to. Per a press release, Take-Two Interactive intends to lapse its offer for acquiring Codemasters. This means there will be no counter-bid.

Take-Two Interactive appears to still be interested in purchasing gaming companies however, as the press release states that the company "will continue to pursue selectively organic and inorganic opportunities," with inorganic growth obviously referring to acquisition. Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Rockstar Games recently acquired Ruffian Games and rebranded it as Rockstar Dundee.

With Take-Two Interactive withdrawing, EA will likely complete its acquisition of Codemasters without issue. The video game industry is seeing a huge amount of market consolidation and acquisitions, with Microsoft acquiring ZeniMax Media and AT&T temporarily looking to sell WB Games.

Codemasters is a publisher and developer with a long history making racing games. Codemasters' latest title, Dirt 5, launched alongside the newest generation of consoles, the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5 with 120 frames-per-second support.

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