Bizarre buyout could cost Activision $107m

Publishing kingpin Activision’s acquisition of Liverpool-based developer Bizarre Creations may ultimately cost the frim over $100m.

Develop understands that Activision paid $67.4 million in cash for the Project Gotham Racing and Blur developer in late 2007.

However that price may rise to $107.4 million, depending if the studio meets commercial targets set ahead of it for the next three to four years. The story behind that substantial stipulation can be found here.

Last year, Activision became the biggest console and handheld publisher in North America for the first time, with total net revenues hitting $2.9 billion (FY08) and annual profits hitting $345 million.

Bizarre Creations has been no slouch either. It has created four commercially profitable editions of the PGR franchise, the first of which sold far beyond Microsoft’s expectations.

The potential $107.4 million valuation of Bizarre Creations comes after the recent revelation that landmark Texan developer id was acquired by media enterprise Zenimax for at least $105 million.

Activision bought out Guitar Hero group RedOctane for $99.9 million back in 2006.

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