One of the industry's largest acquisitions to date is being made by Take-Two Interactive, which is known for games like "Grand Theft Auto" and "Red Dead Redemption."
The acquisition of Take-Two by Microsoft will likely be one of the largest deals in the video game industry.
Paul Sakuma/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Take-Two will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Zynga for $9.86 per share in cash and stock, a more than 60% premium to the closing price last Friday.
Take-Two's shares fell nearly 15%, while shares of Zynga jumped 44%.
The company that makes "Farmville," "CSR Racing" and "Words With Friends" was down 34% in the year.
Take-Two is looking to build on its position in the fast-growing mobile gaming segment where outsized consumer spending is on the rise compared to console and computer games in recent years.
According to Forbes, Mark Pincus' net worth jumped more than $150 million on the news Monday, bringing his fortune to around 1.5 billion dollars.
The deal is expected to close by June 30, 2022.
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Take-Two and Zynga have cult followings. The video game industry has seen several major deals over the past year, including Microsoft's $7.5 billion deal for ZeniMax Media and Electronic Arts' $2.1 billion deal for Glu Mobile.
According to the press release, the combined company would have an expected $6.1 billion in sales and nearly $800 million in operating cash flow. Take-Two said that it will work with Zynga to adapt several of its popular console game franchises for mobile.
The quote is crucial.
Take-Two's CEO said in a statement that the strategic combination brings together the company's best-in-class console and PC franchises with a market-leading, diversified mobile publishing platform. He will remain head of the company after the merger.
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