March 13, 2019 Rumours that Sony will buy Take-Two are now attributed to “unconfirmed market speculation.”
Reports hit earlier today that Sony is seriously considering purchasing Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar and 2K, as stock for the latter company rose 4.7%. But our dreams of Red Dead Redemption 2 PC might not be dead yet – this is looking like a bit of speculation being communicated as fact.
A MarketWatch report quotes Wedbush Securities analyst Joel Kulina in saying that Sony “is in advanced board level discussions to acquire Take-Two Interactive in a mostly cash deal.” The deal would value Take-Two at $130 per share, significantly higher than the company is currently trading – even with the current rise in price.
But Kulina tells GamesIndustry.biz that “This is purely unconfirmed market speculation that is making the rounds. I am not the source of this story in any regard. And not sure who quoted me as I didn’t speak with anyone over the phone (unless someone saw a trading note that I wrote).”
The quote MarketWatch published did indeed come from a note published by Kulina, but it came under the headers “no source” and “unconfirmed.” The rumour is indeed out there in financial circles, but there doesn’t appear to be any inside information behind it.
Sony acquiring one of the biggest third-party publishers around would certainly be industry-shaking news, especially with the apparent implication that all Take-Two’s games would become PlayStation exclusive. Sony could, as Microsoft does, justify still bringing its games to PC, but that hasn’t been how PlayStation has operated in recent years.
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As Microsoft picks up major studios like Obsidian, Sony could be looking to follow suit. But a publisher like Take-Two is a much bigger acquisition than anything the Xbox brand has picked up so far. Whether or not this rumour amounts to anything more remains to be seen – but at this point, it’s looking exceedingly unlikely.