Codemasters Group Holdings PLC (LON:CDM) has been downgraded to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ by analysts at Citigroup, who said a counter-bid for the video game developer was “looking unlikely” following a £954mln swoop from US gaming giant Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA) last month.
In a note on Monday, the bank said the AIM-listed racing game developer’s share price has rallied in recent months, but analysts added that while the market had hoped for a subsequent counteroffer following EA’s gate-crashing of a prior £735mln bid from Grand Theft Auto developer Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO), this seems “unlikely now” as Take-Two’s offer has lapsed.
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“As a result, we see limited upside from the current offer price and rate Codemasters Neutral”, Citi said, while also moving its target price on the stock to EA’s offer of 604p per share.
Shares in Codemasters rose 0.2% to 600.9p in mid-morning trading.