Take-Two shares rise thanks to Activision buyout rumours

Take-Two Interactive, the publisher behind 2K Games and Rockstar may be acquired by Activision as rumors of a buyout deal begin to swirl, causing share prices to rise. This wouldn't be the first time that Activision attempted to buy the company, back in 2008 it made a $2 billion bid, which was later turned down by the Take-Two Board of Directors.

According to Mike Hickey, an equity researcher, a buyout deal would be a “no brainer” for Activision as the company would then own three of the strongest video game development companies in the world: Rockstar, Bungie and Blizzard.

Hickey believes that by acquiring Take-Two, it could offer up an annual catalog of high profile AAA titles:

“While Activision has historically managed their performance profile around franchises they can annualize, their $500 million investment in Bungie seems to be a departure from that philosophy, as we suspect the venture will prove difficult to annualize. The opportunity for Activision to intelligently layer future releases from Rockstar, Bungie and Blizzard, could in-part enable Activision to annualize future performance from what today is arguably a less linear performance profile.”

The analyst notes that this buyout could set up Activision's future, World of Warcraft is in decline, Skylanders is facing competition from Disney Infinity and Call of Duty sales are slowing due to franchise fatigue. Acquiring Take-Two would mean that Activision would own the rights to Red Dead, Grand Theft Auto, Bioshock, Borderlands, NBA 2K amongst other big franchises.

This is all based on rumors and speculation at this point but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. If the deal actually happens, then Activision could very well become the biggest company in gaming.

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KitGuru Says: Do you guys think Activision will buyout Take-Two? It makes sense for Activision but Take-Two seems to be doing fine on its own. How would you guys feel about Activision owning so many popular franchises?

Source: Games Industry Biz 

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