Take-Two in talks to acquire Dirt dev Codemasters

Take-Two is courting Codemasters, with both parties having confirmed that an acquisition could be on the table.

According to Reuters, that offer currently stands at $973 million, or roughly $6.40 per share in a part cash and part stock deal.

On Take-Two's side, a press release from the company describes the acquisition as a "highly complementary fit" between its own 2K publishing operation and Codemasters' racing game portfolio, and believes its own experience in in publishing, live ops, product development and marketing can benefit Codemasters as well.

Founded in 1984, Codemasters itself is a UK-based development studio especially known recently for racing games like the Dirt and F1 series. Last year the studio expended its own operations with the (reportedly $30 million) acquisition of Project Cars dev slightly Mad Studios while just today the studio launched its latest title, Dirt 5, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One with next-generation versions due out later this month.