EA has agreed to acquire Codemasters for $1.2 billion according to a deal by both the companies. Codemasters, the racing games developer for titles like the F1 Games and the Dirt series is now owned by Electronic Arts.
According to Gamesindustry.biz, the acquisition is expected to complete in the first quarter of next year, and it is based on a price of $7.98 per share for the UK publisher.
Chairman of Codemasters, Gerhard Florin had this to say,
Electronic Arts and Codemasters have a shared ambition to lead the video game racing category. The Board of Codemasters firmly believes the company would benefit from EA’s knowledge, resources and extensive global scale – both overall and specifically within the racing sector. We feel this union would provide an exciting and prosperous future for Codemasters, allowing our teams to create, launch and service bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience.
On the other hand. CEO of EA also spoke on behalf of the company in the same statement announcing the acquisition,
We believe there is a deeply compelling opportunity in bringing together Codemasters and Electronic Arts to create amazing and innovative new racing games for fans. Our industry is growing, the racing category is growing, and together we will be positioned to lead in a new era of racing entertainment. We have admired Codemasters’ creative talent and high-quality games for many years. With the full leverage of EA’s technology, platform expertise, and global reach, this combination will allow us to grow our existing franchises and deliver more industry-defining racing experiences to a global fan base. We are pleased that both our Boards of Directors are recommending this transaction, and we look forward to welcoming such an exciting and talented team to the Electronic Arts family.
Once the acquisition is complete by the first quarter of next year, EA will get the IP for games including Formula 1, Project Carts, Grid, and Dirt games.
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