Take-Two Interactive is set to purchase Zynga in a ginormous $12.7 billion acquisition
Take-Two Interactive and Zynga have just announced a partnership whereTake-Two will acquire Zynga in a cash and stock transaction valued at $12.7 billion. While the transaction isn’t cemented just yet, since Zynga has 45 days to find a better deal, it seems likely this acquisition will happen, seeing that both companies felt confident enough to announce the deal this morning.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) (the “Company”) and Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), two leaders in interactive and mobile entertainment, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which Take-Two will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Zynga in a cash and stock transaction valued at $9.861 per Zynga share, based on the market close as of January 7, 2022, with a total enterprise value of approximately $12.7 billion.
Take-Two is an incredibly successful holding company that owns Rockstar and 2K, and Zynga is, of course, the highly popular mobile developer/publisher of Farmville and Words with Friends fame. What’s crazy is that today’s announced acquisition could very well be the largest in gaming history, with the $12.7 billion deal easily eclipsing Microsoft’s $8.1 billion purchase of ZeniMax and Bethesda.
It’s clear Take-Two’s gearing up to dive into mobile game development through Zynga. Take-Two has alreadyhinted at plans for Zynga to create mobile titles under some of Take-Two’s brands, such as Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series or the many professional sports games licensed to 2K. Of course, one look at Zynga’s catalog, you’ll see that it’sabsolutely filled with casual cash grabs and branded casino games, which is quite worrying considering this is the studio that will be handling Take-Two’s future mobile game development. No doubt this team-up will earn gobs of money for the two companies, though the gamer in me is pretty worried that we’ll only see more cynical cash grabs from Zynga, just with known Take-Two brands slapped on top. Hopefully, I’m wrong, but somehow I doubt it.
The transaction will create a powerful and diverse portfolio of industry-leading titles that span key platforms and genres across interactive entertainment, developed by some of the most creative and forward-thinking talent within the industry. By sharing best practices and key data insights across the enterprise, the Company is expected to benefit from significant development and publishing synergies, unlock new revenue streams and reach new audiences around the world.
More or less, two incredibly successful gaming companieswill soon combineto earn even more money. This will likely be bad for the consumer in the long run, but since we’ve yet to see what a Zynga game developed under Take-Two looks like, there’s a slight chance some good will come from this acquisition. So here’s hoping we’ll see a few premium mobile releases from Zynga in the future, as unlikely as that is.
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