Take-Two completes $12.7B acquisition of mobile games giant Zynga | TechCrunch (2024)

Take-Two has completed its $12.7 billion acquisition of mobile games giant Zynga, the company announced on Monday. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Zynga shareholders received $3.50 in cash and 0.0406 shares of Take-Two common stock per share of Zynga common stock. The deal, which was first announced in January, will bring Zynga’s popular games under Take-Two ownership, including Farmville and Words With Friends.

“We are thrilled to complete our combination with Zynga, which is a pivotal step to increase exponentially our Net Bookings from mobile, the fastest-growing segment in interactive entertainment, while also providing us with substantial cost synergies and revenue opportunities,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in a statement. “Each of our teams has a strong history of operational execution, and together, we expect that we will enhance our financial profile through greater scale and profitability, paving the way for us to deliver strong shareholder value.”

It was previously announced that Zelnick will lead the larger company with Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau. Zynga’s president of publishing, Bernard Kim, was supposed to work alongside Gibeau, but is leaving Zynga to become the CEO of Match Group at the end of this month.

“We are excited for Zynga’s next-generation mobile platform, free-to-play expertise, diverse offering of games and incredible team to join the Take-Two family,” said Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau. “We are eager to continue building an unparalleled portfolio of games that will reach broader markets and lead to continued growth for this next chapter of Zynga’s history.”

The acquisition brings together two gaming powerhouses, as Take-Two is known for console and PC games, while Zynga largely defined the mobile gaming genre. Although Take-Two already has a number of mobile games titles and has expanded its franchises into mobile, this will give the company a significantly larger holding in the space.

As for Zynga, combining with Take-Two, which also publishes Red Dead Redemption, Midnight Club, NBA 2K, BioShock and more, will give it a large library of franchises and IP from which to build new mobile gaming experiences. Similarly, Zynga’s IP may now find new traction in different formats and different screens.

The deal marks one of the several significant gaming acquisitions announced earlier this year. A week after the Take-Two and Zynga news dropped, Microsoft announced that it would acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion all-cash deal, inclusive of the company’s net cash. Less than two weeks later, Sony announced that it acquired Bungie, the studio responsible for the creation of Halo and Destiny, in a deal valued at $3.6 billion.

Take-Two completes $12.7B acquisition of mobile games giant Zynga | TechCrunch (2024)

FAQs

Take-Two completes $12.7B acquisition of mobile games giant Zynga | TechCrunch? ›

Take-Two

Take-Two
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal game development studios.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Take-Two_Interactive
has completed its $12.7 billion acquisition of mobile games giant Zynga, the company announced on Monday. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Zynga shareholders received $3.50 in cash and 0.0406 shares of Take-Two common stock per share of Zynga common stock.

Why is Take-Two buying Zynga? ›

Take-Two acquired Zynga for mobile opportunities, which CEO Strauss Zelnick admitted to being too slow on. Bloomberg notes the publisher's plans to bring its franchises to mobile, but Hunters' repeated delays throw that possibility into question.

Who is Zynga owned by? ›

Take-Two Interactive owns Zynga.

Zynga is an American developer running social video game services founded in 2007 by Mark Pincus, Eric Schiermeyer, Justin Waldron, Michael Luxton, Steve Schoettler, and Andrew Trader.

When did T2 buy Zynga? ›

Acquisitions
DateCompanyDerived studios
January 2022ZyngaChartboost Echtra Games NaturalMotion Peak Games Rollic Small Giant Games StarLark
September 2022StoremavenStoremaven
March 2023GameClub
March 2024Gearbox EntertainmentGearbox Software
40 more rows

What is Zynga's new ticker symbol? ›

Zynga Inc. Stock (ZNGA) - Quote Nasdaq- MarketScreener.

Should I sell Take-Two stock? ›

TTWO Stock Forecast FAQ

Take-Two has a conensus rating of Strong Buy which is based on 13 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings and 0 sell ratings. The average price target for Take-Two is $176.25. This is based on 16 Wall Streets Analysts 12-month price targets, issued in the past 3 months.

What happens to my Zynga stock after merger? ›

The terms of the merger deal mean that Zynga stockholders will be entitled at closing to $3.50 in cash and 0.0406 shares of Take-Two common stock for each share of Zynga owned. Take-Two stock (TTWO) is up 1.6%.

Is Zynga a Russian company? ›

Zynga Inc. (/ˈzɪŋɡə/) is an American developer running social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California.

Is Zynga a good company? ›

Is Zynga a good company to work for? Zynga has an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5, based on over 1,339 reviews left anonymously by employees. 91% of employees would recommend working at Zynga to a friend and 81% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months.

What happened to all the Zynga games? ›

According to TechCrunch , Zynga is shutting down, stopping accepting new players, or pulling from the app stores 11 of its games. According to the company, keeping some of these games up was too much strain on the company and was costing it money that it couldn't afford.

Who is Take-Two owned by? ›

Take-Two Interactive was founded by Ryan Ashley Brant, the son of media executive and Interview co-owner Peter Brant.

Why did Rockstar buy Zynga? ›

Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two just bought Zynga in a practically unprecedented $12.7 billion deal, and part of the reasoning is that it wants the opportunity to bring some of its biggest console and PC game properties to mobile.

How much did Zynga Take-Two cost? ›

Take-Two has completed its $12.7 billion acquisition of mobile games giant Zynga, the company announced on Monday. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Zynga shareholders received $3.50 in cash and 0.0406 shares of Take-Two common stock per share of Zynga common stock.

Is Zynga doing well? ›

Zynga's gross margin has been in long-term decline, losing an average of -2.6% per year. That's not inspiring. Zynga has a debt/equity ratio of 0.47 as per the latest quarter, which is not either bad or good. Zynga for the fiscal year 2021 reported higher long-term debt, lower short-term debt and lower cash.

What is the symbol for Zynga? ›

Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) Stock Price, News & Historical Data - TheStreet.

Who bought Zynga? ›

Take-Two Interactive has officially acquired social and mobile gaming company Zynga. The $12.7 billion acquisition, announced in January, was completed Monday. The combined company will bring a new slate of popular games to Take-Two, including Zynga's Farmville, Words with Friends and Zynga Poker.

Did Take-Two overpay for Zynga? ›

Take-Two is paying…

… a ~64% premium on Zynga's stock price. It may be an overpay, but the deal is on trend with recent gaming acquisitions: Microsoft acquired “Doom” maker Bethesda Softworks ($7.5B)

Why is Zynga dropping? ›

Investment analysts pinpoint the drop in value to the shedding of players who jumped into games during the pandemic. But analysts also cite expanding privacy protections on platforms like Apple's iPhone. These new rules could affect how advertisers can track users, and potentially disrupt Zynga's business model.

What will Zynga shareholders get? ›

Under the terms of the agreement, Zynga shareholders received $3.50 in cash and 0.0406 shares of Take-Two common stock per share of Zynga common stock. Shareholders voted to approve the deal last week.

Who owns Take-Two? ›

Take-Two Interactive was founded by Ryan Ashley Brant, the son of media executive and Interview co-owner Peter Brant. Ryan Brant had attended the Hotchkiss School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in May 1992.

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