NEW YORK (REUTERS, AFP) – Grand Theft Auto online game maker Take-Two Interactive mentioned on Monday (Jan 10) it might purchase Zynga for US$11.04 billion (S$14.94 billion) in a cash-and-stock deal that may add fashionable cell titles reminiscent of FarmVille beneath its umbrella as demand surges for on-the-go gaming.
The deal, the biggest ever within the sector, will create a gaming powerhouse with a market cap of almost US$30 billion, spanning console, PC and cell units at a time that extra persons are gaming on their smartphones.
The deal comes as Take-Two plans extra good telephone variations of its video games, which additionally embody Crimson Lifeless Redemption and NBA2K.
The transaction is also designed to advertise Take-Two’s progress outdoors of its core markets in the USA and Western Europe. Take-Two officers emphasised that Zynga has a presence in additional than 175 international locations.
Zynga’s video games are typically free to play and the corporate generates revenues by way of the sale of in-game digital objects and promoting.
Take-Two supplied US$3.50 in money and US$6.361 in shares for every Zynga share, a 64 per cent premium to the final closing worth. Together with debt, the acquisition is price $12.7 billion.
“It is a bombshell deal… Zynga was on the checklist of potential M&A transactions for a very long time within the online game enterprise,” mentioned Dr Serkan Toto, chief government officer of online game consulting agency Kantan Video games.
“Take-Two is wanting on the trade map and says ‘now we have principally nothing right here’. So, lots of people have been have been anticipating Take-Two to make a giant deal in cell to shut the hole with rivals like Digital Arts for instance.”
Mr Michael Pachter, a video gaming specialist at Wedbush Securities, views the proposed buy as a “clever transfer” for Take-Two.
“The deal transforms Take-Two from 10 per cent cell to over 50 per cent, and cell is the quickest rising section of video video games,” he mentioned.
Take-Two chief government Strauss Zelnick mentioned in an announcement: “We’re thrilled to announce our transformative transaction with Zynga, which considerably diversifies our enterprise and establishes our management place in cell, the quickest rising section of the interactive leisure trade.”
Mr Zelnick, in a convention name with analysts, highlighted Zynga’s experience in free-to-play video games which may permit for better progress in India, components of Latin America and the Center East.
“We principally have 80 per cent of the world’s geography that’s greenfield alternative for us,” Mr Zelnick mentioned. “Giant components of that geography actually is pushed by free-to-play and that is the place Zynga’s experience lies.”