Take-Two Interactive Entertainment is purchasing Zynga, a mobile gaming business, in a cash-and-stock transaction that the company claims would transform the Grand Theft Auto producer into a mobile gaming behemoth. The transaction is estimated to be worth roughly $12.7 billion, or $9.86 per Zynga share.
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, said the acquisition will help both firms by providing Zynga access to Take-best-selling Two’s game brands while also offering Take-Two access to player analytics, advertising, and mobile game development technologies that it hasn’t had before. “What we’ve found is that great entertainment wins,” he said in an interview Monday. “It’s really hard to build organically.”
FarmVille and Words With Friends are two of Zynga’s most popular social games. Take-Two already owns Rockstar Games, the creators of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, as well as 2K Games, which makes BioShock, Borderlands, Civilization, and NBA 2K.
