NEW YORK & TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2005--Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO - News) and SEGA Corporation and its affiliates announced today that Take-Two has purchased all of the outstanding capital stock of SEGA's California-based sports game development studio Visual Concepts Entertainment and its wholly-owned studio, Kush Games. Visual Concepts is the marketer and developer of the critically acclaimed 2K series of sports video games.
The purchase price was approximately $24 million in cash and includes the rights to all intellectual property associated with the sports titles, as well as rights to the 2K brand. The agreement also provides that Take-Two and SEGA will work together to bring sports titles developed by Visual Concepts to SEGA's arcade business. Additionally, Take-Two is negotiating an agreement with SEGA whereby SEGA will publish and distribute the 2K series of sports titles and certain other Take-Two games in Japan and other Asian territories.