Grand Theft Auto, meet FarmVille
Take-Two said Monday it is buying Zynga in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $12.7 billion, including debt. The deal values Zynga at $9.86 a share.Shares of Zynga (But it’s also because Facebook (FB) (now known as Meta Platforms) and Zynga inked a new business deal in 2012 that lessened Zynga’s reliance on Facebook for revenue. That hurt Zynga.Zynga hopes the merger with Take-Two will lead to more growth opportunities.”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,” said Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau in a statement.The combined Zynga/Take-Two should be able to compete more effectively with red-hot Roblox, whose stock has soared since the company listed shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Take-Two also competes with Electronic Arts (EA) and Activision Blizzard (ATVI) in the market for games for the popular Nintendo (NTDOF) Switch, Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox and Sony PlayStation consoles.
