Take-Two is going to acquire all the outstanding shares of Zynga during the first quarter of T2’s fiscal year 2023. This deal is going to represent a 64% premium to Zynga’s closing share price on January 7, 2022 and will have a total value of $12.7 Billion.
Take-Two and Zynga announced today that they entered into this definitive agreement that will see the acquisition of the latter. According to the press release from Businesswire:
This transformative combination unifies two global leaders in the interactive entertainment business and establishes Take-Two as one of the largest and most diversified mobile game publishers in the industry, with $6.1 billion in pro-forma Net Bookings for the trailing twelve-month period ended September 30, 2021.
Zynga is no slouch, of course. This company has been known for several games like CSR Racing, Empires & Puzzles, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, among others. Of course, you might as well know them for their biggest success: FarmVille.
Take-Two Interactive Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick said the following regarding this upcoming deal:
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.
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 experienced 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.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Zynga Frank Gibeau had the following to say regarding the deal:
Combining Zynga’s expertise in mobile and next-generation platforms with Take-Two’s best-in-class capabilities and intellectual property will enable us to further advance our mission to connect the world through games while achieving significant growth and synergies together.
I am proud of our team’s hard work to deliver a strong finish to 2021, with one of the best performances in Zynga’s history. We are incredibly excited to have found a partner in Take-Two that shares our commitment to investing in our players, amplifying our creative culture, and generating more value for stockholders. With this transformative transaction, we begin a new journey which will allow us to create even better games, reach larger audiences and achieve significant growth as a leader in the next era of gaming.
The deal is made to have a unified leadership position in mobile gaming. The transaction is quoted to bring 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 talents within the industry.
Of course, adding Zynga’s game titles will subsequently increase the company’s base of Recurring User Spending since… Well, the sales from those titles published by Zynga will be added. Strauss Zelnick will continue to serve as Chairman and CEO, and the management team of Take-Two will continue to lead the combined company.
Meanwhile, Zynga’s management team led by Frank Gibeau and Zynga’s President of Publishing, Bernard Kim, will drive the strategic direction for Take-Two’s mobile efforts and will oversee the integration, and day-to-day operations of the combined Zynga and T2 Mobile Games business.
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