Sony ‘in advanced talks’ to buy GTA-maker Take-Two Interactive
THE next Grand Theft Auto game could be a PlayStation exclusive, if stock market chatter is to believed.
Sony is reportedly in "advanced board level discussions" to buy the firm behind Rockstar's games, according to analyst Joel Kulina.
Kulina, who is head of technology and media trading at Wedbush Securities, reported that the deal is said to be "mostly cash", .
Talking to Sun Online, Kulina said he was "passing along market chatter" and that the information as it stood was unconfirmed.
Take-Two shares are up 8.8 per cent this week with gains of 5.4 per cent today alone thanks to "traders jawing about a potential takeover by Sony", according .
Sony's offer values Take-Two at £98 a share, according to Kulina -- which would make the company as a whole worth £10.6 billion.
At time of writing, Take-Two's shares are worth £71.67 -- but were worth over £100 each as recently as last October, since when the company has seen steady declines.
Take-Two's biggest money-spinner is its subsidiary Rockstar Games, which is responsible for the Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne and Manhunt franchises, among others.
These came despite the huge critical and commercial success of Red Red Redemption 2, with some number-crunchers disappointed that its online element has so far failed to match GTA V's popularity and money-spinning potential.
The game had the biggest-ever opening weekend in entertainment history, raking in £568 million in just three days.
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GTA V has made over $6 billion since its launch in September 13, 2013, while the franchise in total has sold 185 million games.
If Sony were to buy Take-Two with a view to making their games exclusive to Sony consoles it would seriously shake up plans for both the Xbox 2 and PlayStation 5.
That just leaves the firms with new moves from the likes of Amazon and Google to worry about...
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