Codemasters valued at £280m as it prepares to go public

Racing studio Codemasters is the latest firm to announce an IPO, seeking admission of its shares onto the London Stock Exchange AIM market. Shares are expected to be listed from June 1st.

Codemasters was valued at £280m and has “placed 7.5 million new ordinary shares and 85 million existing shares” priced at £2, the London Stock Exchange said. The new shares will raise around £15m, which Codemasters wants to use to extend the “reach of existing franchises onto more platforms” as well as “to recruit new talent to grow games as a service revenue, [for] marketing activities, and for further development of proprietary technology,” the London Stock Exchange announcement further said.

Shareholders are expected to earn £170m from this sale, with the majority going to the studio’s parent company and majority shareholder Reliance Big Entertainment.

Codemasters CEO Frank Sagnier said the IPO was a “milestone” and added: "We believe that racing games will continue to be a strong market segment, and our admission to AIM will provide us with the opportunity to further build on our expertise and capabilities in creating premium quality racing games.”

Earlier this month, Team17 also announced its IPO.