Veteran Game Maker Codemasters Set For US Acquisition

Long-time British videogame maker Codemasters has confirmed it is in talks to be acquired by US gaming giant Take-Two.

The sale would put the company under the same roof as two other major Take-Two-owned videogame developers, Rockstar Games and 2K.

Codemasters, based in Southam, Warwickshire, is best known for racing games such as the Dirt Rally and Formula 1 licenses.

It has a history stretching back to the Spectruma and Commodore era of the 1980s, with games such as the Dizzy series.

Gaming history

In the 1990s it was known for the successful Micro Machines franchise and has also published British-made cricket and rugby games.

The company released its latest game, Dirt 5, on Friday.

It said it has received a non-binding proposal from Take-Two that values the company at £739m.

While the offer has not yet been finalised, if the bid is made official the company said it plans to recommend it to its shareholders.

The offer is worth £1.20 in cash and £3.65 in Take-Two shares for each Codemasters share.

Codemasters and Take-Two said they were confirming the talks after media reports emerged around a possible sale.

‘Complementary fit’

“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 2K and Codemasters in the racing genre,” Take-Two said in a statement.

Take-Two-owned 2K makes a number of sports games, including the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series.

Other well-known 2K games include BioShock, Borderlands and Civilisation, while Rockstar is known for the Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne series of games.

Rockstar itself developed from a British game development studio, BMG Interactive, and still includes UK-based facilities such as Rockstar North, now based in Edinburgh, which was founded in Dundee in 1987.