Gaming titan Take-Two Interactive to acquire Zynga for $12.7 billion
In the upcoming days, the gaming world will witness an altering event as Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. announced plans to acquire Zynga Inc in a $12.7 billion deal.
The deal, which would heighten Zynga Inc’s valuation, also incorporated that the gaming firm’s shareholders will also get compensation of almost $9.68 per share owned by the California-based company.
According to the Wall Street Journal, this includes $3.50 in cash and $6.36 of Take-Two stock.
On Monday premarket trading, Zynga’s stock valuation rose by almost 50 percent, closing the trading at $6.00 per share on Friday.
The acquisition’s transaction is set to be finalized in the first quarter (Q1) in the fiscal year 2023, after receiving regulatory and shareholders’ approval.
“We are thrilled to announce our transformative transaction with Zynga, which significantly diversifies our business and establishes our leadership position in mobile, the fastest-growing segment of the interactive entertainment industry,” Chairman and CEO of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick, said in a statement.
“This strategic combination brings together our best-in-class console and PC franchises, with a market-leading, diversified mobile publishing platform that has a rich history of innovation and creativity. Zynga also has a highly talented and deeply experimented team, and we look forward to welcoming them into the Take-Two family in the coming months. As we combine our complementary businesses and operate at a much larger scale, we believe that we will deliver significant value to both sets of stockholders, including $100 million of annual cost synergies within the first two years post-closing and at least $500 million of annual Net Bookings opportunities over time,” he added.
Some of Zynga’s most famous games include “FarmVille” and Words with Friends,” which marked a breakthrough in intertwining social-media ethos with the entertainment industry.
As for Take-Two, the New York-based gaming company is the caretaker of some of the most famed games in the industry, including “Grant Theft Auto,” “Civilization,” and “Red Dead Redemption.”
The deal is set to be finalized between April and June of this year.