EA came closer to buying Codemasters after shareholders approved the takeover. Of the 76 shareholders, 63 approved EA’s $ 1.2 billion bid. Those who voted for the deal own just under 99 percent of the total Codemasters share.
Competition regulators in Germany and Austria have placed the acquisition with rubber stamp and a court hearing will take place on 16 February. If there are no problems, EA should close the deal by the end of the spring. Codemasters will then be part of a new affiliate called Codex Games.
For a while, it seemed like Take-Two Interactive would be the destination of Codemasters. Publisher Grand Theft Auto made a bid of almost $ 1 billion in November, but EA went ahead with a higher offer the following month.
In its quarterly earnings report, EA said it could release new racing games each year after concluding the purchase. EA already has a few races in its portfolio, including the Need for Speed and Burnout games. Once the deal goes through, it will add Dirt, Grid, Project Cars and the F1 series to its stable.