Sony may be in talks to acquire Take-Two Interactive

It’s been recently reported that Sony is in the final stages of talks with publisher Take-Two Interactive, with an aim to purchase the company. If these reports are to be believed, then this deal would give Sony first-party exclusivity over huge franchises such as 2K, Grand Theft Auto, and the latest Rockstar Games series to see a release, Red Dead Redemption.

Responding to an enquiry from Gamesindustry.biz Take-Two Interactive said that it was not their policy to respond to rumours or speculation. Sony has also not responded to any questions from press at the time of writing.

The news came from a MarketWatch report on the US stock market. Among the report were talks of how Brexit would affect a number of stocks, and what impact the grounding of the 737 Max 8 would have on its manufacturer, Boeing. Towards the end of the report was a particularly interesting regarding Take-Two Interactive.

The report read that Take-Two Interactive’s stock had risen by 4.7 percent based on the fact that Sony were in advanced board level discussions regarding purchasing the company. According to Joel Kulina, Head of Technology and Media Trading at Wedbush Securities, this deal would value Take-Two Interactive at $130 per share.

However, Kulina is confused as to why he is suddenly the focus of so much attention, since he claims this news is nothing more than a rumour doing the rounds. He added that he’s not sure how he’s being quoted since he hasn’t spoken to anyone, though it’s possible someone read a trading note that he’d written.

Kulina wanted to make it clear that this news is unconfirmed as far as he’s concerned. The writers of the MarketWatch report told GamesIndustry.biz that it is indeed the case that their source for Kulina’s information is the unconfirmed trading note he’s referred to.

Chris Matthews, one of the writers for the MarketWatch piece, said that when he saw Take-Two Interactive’s stock shoot up to lead the S&P 500 shortly after the trade day opened, he was looking for plausible explanations. Matthews says that the company’s stock was up by a lot before Kulina’s note passed he and Sue Chang, the second writer of the MarketWatch piece, by.

Ultimately what every source for this story is doing is reporting on what they’ve heard. But it seems likely that this news has leaked from somewhere, eventually reaching Kulina, and therefore the MarketWatch piece writers.

Take-Two Interactive headquarters