Hold up, don’t go racing off into the weekend just yet. The developers of Dirt 5, which just released yesterday, say they’ve received a possible buyout offer from Take-Two Interactive who own the creators of other sporty games 2K and Rockstar Games as well. Take-Two say they believe it would be a “highly complementary fit”. Ah, romance.
According to Reuters, Codemasters announced that the proposed deal values the developer at £739.2 million / $973.01 million and would be paid part in cash and part in Take-Two shares.
As the company courtship dance goes, Take-Two have published their own press release about the proposal, explaining what they see in a partnership between the two.
“Take-Two believes that the combination of Take-Two and Codemasters would bring together two world-class interactive entertainment portfolios, with a highly complementary fit between Take-Two’s 2K publishing label and Codemasters in the racing genre. In addition, Take-Two believes that it can bring benefits to Codemasters’ performance by leveraging Take-Two’s global distribution network and 2K’s core operating expertise in publishing, including live operations, analytics, product development, and brand and performance marketing.”
The offer has not yet been finalised and is still, in legal-y terms, a “possible offer”, but Take-Two say that it is the current intention of the Board of Codemasters to recommend shareholders accept the deal.
It’s a busy week for Codemasters, who just launched Dirt 5 yesterday and are currently planning a patch for next week to address its crashing and performance problems.