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Report: Codemasters Receiving Major Cash Injection
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
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January 18, 2010
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UK-based Dirt and Ashes Cricket publisher Codemasters will soon announce a major cash injection from a currently undisclosed investor, according to a report from UK-based Times Online.
Codemasters, a private company, is also receiving additional funds from current investors Balderton Capital and Goldman Sachs, the report claims, although those funds will be will be "heavily diluted" by the restructuring.
The Times Online said Codemasters is running out of money following "tough trading" and more aggressive expansion initiatives -- and recent titles such as Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising do not appear to have been major worldwide hits as envisioned.
David and Richard Darling, along with their father Jim, founded Codemasters in 1986, and sold their remaining stake in the publisher in 2007 to Balderton Capital, which first acquired a 40 percent stake in 2005, and a further 30 percent in 2006.
At the same time, Goldman Sachs had provided £50 million ($81.64 million) of finance to support the company’s future growth plans. In 2005, Codemasters also secured industry vet Rod Cousens as its CEO.
The report said that Codemasters' sales hit a high of £100 million ($163.29 million), up from £70 million ($114.3 million) a year prior. Ashes Cricket 2009, which topped UK charts over the summer, and Formula 1 drove revenues for the period, the Times Online said.
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