Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (RBEL), part of Reliance ADA group which already runs local gaming firm Zapak, is picking 50% stake owned by Goldman Sachs in Codemasters, a leading British developer and publisher of video games, for an undisclosed sum.
It would become a co-promoter of Codemasters alongside existing investor, European venture capital firm Balderton Capital.
Codemasters has major franchises in cricket games (The Ashes), racing games (Formula 1, Dirt2 and Race Driver Grid), with annual revenues in excess of $150 million. Headquartered in Warwickshire, UK, the company has European operations in Germany, France, Spain, and Benelux and, in 2006, established its US operations in California. Zapak Digital Entertainment will oversee the operations of Codemaster that employs over 450 people.
This is seen as yet another global push by Reliance ADAG that recently partnered Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider on the formation of DreamWorks Studios. It has development deals with Nicolas Cage’s Saturn Films, Jim Carrey’s JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks’ Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Jay Roach’s Everyman Pictures, Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment, Julia Roberts’ Red Om Films and Brian Gazer and Ron Howards’ Imagine Entertainment.
