EA reportedly trying to outbid Take-Two for Codemasters acquisition | NME

Electronic Arts is reportedly attempting to outbid Take-Two Interactive in its effort to acquire Dirt 5 developer Codemasters.

According to a Sky News report, EA’s offer is likely to be both at a “substantial premium” of the developer’s current stock price (534p) and higher than Take-Two’s £739.2million pounds (US$973.01million) offer, although the exact amount is currently unclear.

The outlet also noted that “it is not certain whether Take-Two, whose market capitalisation is roughly half the size of EA’s, will respond with a counterbid”.

Take-Two previously announced in early November that it had made a proposal to “acquire the entire issued share capital” of Codemasters. The company’s offer was a combination of shares and cash, which means that the value of its proposal fluctuates according to its stock price.

“Some fund managers who own Codemasters shares have reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Take-Two deal because of its equity component,” Sky News added, “and the comparatively modest premium it represented to the British company’s undisturbed share price.”

Codemasters is best known for its racing games, including the Dirt series, the Grid franchise and its line-up of F1-branded titles. Their latest launch was Dirt 5, which released in November for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

In other EA news, the company recently released an update for Star Wars Squadrons. The patch includes an array of bug fixes, two brand-new Starfighters – the B-Wing Starfighter, and the TIE Defender – and the addition of the Fostar Haven map to multiplayer modes.