Take-Two Interactive (TTWO +1.04%) is buying mobile-game developer Playdots for $192 million in a cash-and-stock deal.
Although Take-Two makes most of its money from developing video games for consoles, mobile gaming is growing in importance and provides it with opportunities to enhance its growth prospects and profitability.
Playdots has made three successful games -- Dots, Two Dots, and Dots & Co. -- that have been downloaded over 100 million times. Two Dots accounts for most of that figure, having been downloaded more than 80 million times since being released six years ago.
Image source: Getty Images.
Building out mobile
Take-Two will pay for the acquisition with $90 million in cash it has on hand and a portion of Take-Two stock to make up the other $102 million. It will calculate the number of shares by dividing that amount by the average closing price of Take-Two's stock over the prior 30-day period three days before the closing date, which it expects to occur in the third quarter.
Michael Worosz, Take-Two's head of strategy and independent publishing, said in a statement, "Our acquisition of Playdots will diversify and strengthen further Take-Two's mobile game offerings, particularly within the casual, free-to-play segment."
Take-Two's Social Point unit houses its mobile gaming division, whose two most successful games are Dragon City and Monster Legends, which were released in 2013. They're still being actively played, as Sensor Tower estimates the former had 500,000 downloads just last month while the latter had 300,000 downloads.
Take-Two owns video game publishers 2K Games and Rockstar, which developed numerous popular franchises including Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, and Red Dead Redemption.
