Rumour: Activision Blizzard to fuse / buy TakeTwo Interactive

[shadowDOESrock]

Call of Duty publisher Activision could be making an offer to acquire GTA publisher Take-Two, according to a recent report.


According to a research note by Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey, the two companies are trying to get into the movie-making business, specifically Activision, which he said had "deep connections to Hollywood," something which would help bring some of Take-Two franchises, namely GTA, to Hollywood.

"For Activision, acquiring Take-Two Interactive would be a no-brainer, in our view, circling some of the strongest development talent and owned IP in the world, within a company that has nearly $1 billion in cash and trades at a comparably lower multiple," said Hickey.

Hickey described this as "an emerging romance" between the two mega publishers.

Hickey also noted that should such a deal come to fruition, Activision would be controlling three of the world's strongest studios, Blizzard, Bungie and Rockstar Games, along with their multi-billion dollar franchises. Though he did argue that annualizing Take-Two franchises could prove difficult.

Back in 2008, EA made a $2 billion acquisition offer to Take-Two, which was later rejected by Take-Two's board of directors.

From VG247