Electronic Arts announces they have reached an agreement to purchase Codemasters for approximately USD$1.2 billion. This confirms yesterday's report that they stepped in with a bid on the racing game developer. This is despite an announcement last month that Codemasters was being purchased by Take-Two Interactive. So this may not be over yet, as Take-Two responds by announcing: "Take-Two is considering its position in relation to Codemasters and a further announcement will be made when appropriate." Here's more on the EA bid:

Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) announced that it has reached an agreement with the Board of Codemasters for the recommended acquisition of Codemasters, the UK-based game developer and publisher. In the transaction, Codemasters' shareholders will be entitled to receive 604 pence (approximately US$7.98*) in cash for each ordinary share of Codemasters with an implied enterprise value of US$1.2 billion*. The acquisition is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of calendar 2021.

“Electronic Arts and Codemasters have a shared ambition to lead the video game racing category. The Board of Codemasters firmly believes the company would benefit from EA’s knowledge, resources and extensive global scale – both overall and specifically within the racing sector. We feel this union would provide an exciting and prosperous future for Codemasters, allowing our teams to create, launch and service bigger and better games to an extremely passionate audience,” said Gerhard Florin, the Chairman of Codemasters.