After 3+ decades as a private firm, UK dev Codemasters is going public

Longstanding British game company Codemasters (Dirt, F1) plans to make an initial public offering on (a submarket of) the London Stock Exchange this week with an estimated valuation of £280 million (or roughly $371.24 million USD).

Notably, the Financial Times reports Codemasters -- which is poised to release its arcade car combat game Onrush next week -- is expected to devote £15 million (~$19.8 million USD) of the money raised to bolstering its game development coffers.

The rest of the earnings funneling chiefly into the pockets of the studio's biggest investor, the Indian firm Reliance Big Entertainment, though £10 million (~$13.2 million USD) will reportedly be split among a group of the company's directors and senior management.

Codemasters made a similar attempt at an IPO in 2003, but wound up calling it off due to debt concerns. The Financial Times notes that the company currently owes Reliance roughly £124 million (~$164.4 million), but if the company does successfully go public this week it will be the end of a roughly 31-year run as a private company.