Take-Two to acquire mobile gaming giant Zynga for $12.7B

techcrunch.com:

Huge consolidation is afoot in the world of gaming. Today Take-Two Interactive announced a plan to acquire mobile games giant Zynga, in a deal valued at $9.86 per share — $3.50 in cash and the remaining $6.36 in shares of Take-Two common stock. Zynga’s enterprise value in the deal works out to $12.7 billion.

The deal will bring together two gaming powerhouses, Take-Two in consoles and PC games (including such iconic titles as Grand Theft Auto) and Zynga in a massive swathe of mobile games, a genre that was arguably largely defined by the company (it’s behind FarmVille, Empires & Puzzles, Words with Friends and more).

The deal, Take-Two said, will result in $6.1 billion in 12-month pro-forma net bookings (ending September 30, 2021), making it one of the largest gaming companies overall, regardless of platform.

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 of fiscal year 2023, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

“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,” said Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two, in a statement. “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. As we combine our complementary businesses and operate at a much larger scale, we believe that we will deliver significant value to both sets of stockholders,