Shareholders of the well-known American game maker Electronic Arts (EA-US) may be disappointed, sources said on Friday (26th) that Amazon (AMZN-US) is not expected to make a takeover offer for Electronic Arts.
Electronic Arts rose $4.56, or 3.57%, to close at $132.17 a share on Friday, following a USA Today report that Amazon would make a takeover bid for Electronic Arts on Friday. EA’s popular games include FIFA, Madden, and Apex Legends.
However, CNBC’s David Faber questioned the possibility of Amazon buying EA, citing sources saying: “Nothing happened.”
An Amazon spokesman said the company does not comment on rumors or speculation. An Electronic Arts spokesman declined to comment.
If Amazon does bid for Electronic Arts, it would help strengthen the retail giant’s video game business. Amazon already owns the streaming service Twitch, which is loved by gamers, and has also launched its own cloud gaming service, Luna, and its Prime membership service also offers gaming benefits.
Amazon’s recent acquisitions have been frequent. Earlier this month, Amazon planned to buy iRobot, the maker of Roomba robotic vacuums, for $1.7 billion. Two weeks ago, the company announced that it would acquire Primary Healthcare Network Services for $3.9 billion to strengthen its telehealth business. However, Amazon’s surprise announcement this week that it will end Amazon Care healthcare by the end of the year appears to be a major retreat from its healthcare business rollout.
The gaming industry has also experienced some consolidation this year, with Microsoft (MSFT-US) saying in January it would buy Activision Blizzard (ATVI-US) for $68.7 billion. In May, Take-Two (TTWO-US) said it would buy Zynga for $11 billion.
