{"id":25870,"date":"2022-01-10T09:53:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T14:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1.6309435"},"modified":"2022-01-10T09:53:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T14:53:05","slug":"video-game-giant-take-two-buys-farmville-creator-zynga-for-12b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/business\/take-two-zynga-merger-1.6309435?cmp=rss","title":{"rendered":"Video game giant Take Two buys Farmville creator Zynga for $12B"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Take-Two Interactive, maker of Grand Theft Auto<\/em> and Red Dead Redemption<\/em>, is buying Zynga, maker of FarmVille<\/em> and Words With Friends<\/em>, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $12.7 billion.<\/p>\n

The acquisition announced Monday would wed a powerhouse in console gaming, Take-Two, with a mobile gaming company with an almost cult-like following.<\/p>\n

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Zynga shareholders will receive $3.50 in cash and $6.36 in shares of Take-Two common stock for each share of Zynga outstanding stock at closing. The transaction is valued at $9.86 per share of Zynga common stock.<\/p>\n

“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,” Take-Two Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a prepared statement. He will retain those roles when the companies become one.<\/p>\n

Take-Two anticipates the deal will help bring about mobile versions of some of its console and personal computer based games.<\/p>\n

Take-Two said Monday it anticipates approximately $100 million US in annual cost savings within the first two years after the transaction is complete.<\/p>\n

Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau and its president of publishing, Bernard Kim, will oversee the integration and day-to-day operations of the combined Zynga and T2 Mobile Games business, which will operate under the Zynga brand as its own label within the Take-Two.<\/p>\n

Take-Two will also expand its board to 10 members upon closing, adding two members from Zynga’s board.<\/p>\n

The transaction includes a go-shop provision, giving Zynga 45 days to hear alternative proposals.<\/p>\n

The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of Take-Two’s fiscal 2023, ending June 30. It still needs approval of both Take-Two and Zynga stockholders. It has received approval from both companies’ boards.<\/p>\n

Shares of Zynga Inc., based in San Francisco, jumped 52.5 per cent to $9.15. Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., based in New York City, fell 8.7 per cent to $150.25.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take-Two Interactive, maker of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, is buying Zynga, maker of FarmVille and Words With Friends, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $12.7 billion. The acquisition announced Monday would wed a powerhouse...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[331],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewwbradley.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}