Take-Two buys Zynga in biggest studio acquisition ever

Zynga is one of the most well known video game publishers in the mobile space, having released classics such as Farmville, Words With Friends and more. Their repertoire within the mobile space must have piqued the interest of Take-Two Interactive as they have acquired the company for $12.7 Billion.

Making the surprise announcement via a press release (through Businesswire), Zyna and Take-Two Interactive revealed that the “two leaders in interactive and mobile entertainment, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which Take-Two will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Zynga in a cash and stock transaction valued at $9.861 per Zynga share, based on the market close as of January 7, 2022, with a total enterprise value of approximately $12.7 billion.”

This represents the biggest acquisition of all time in gaming, with second place going to Tencent’s purchasing of Supercell for $8.6 Billion in 2016 and Microsoft's acquisition of Zenimax Media in 2020 for $8.1 billion.

Speaking on this move, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick said “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,” he added.

According to Frank Gibeau – the CEO of Zynga – “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.”

With such a large purchase on the part of Take-Two, it will be interesting to see what the company has planned for the mobile developer. Time will tell, but whatever it is, it’s likely to be big.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this purchase? Are you surprised by the amount spent? Which acquisition do you think was the most profitable so far? Let us know down below.

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