EA offers $2 billion for Grand Theft Auto publisher
Take-Two Interactive Software,
publishers of the popular Grand Theft Auto series of games, has received and
rejected a US$2 billion acquisition bid from Electronic
Arts but left the door open to a possible acquisition later.
The EA bid, which wasn't made
public until shortly before Take-Two announced its rejection Sunday, offered
$26 cash per share for Take-Two. At the time the bid was made on Feb. 19, the
price represented a 64 percent premium on Take-Two's Feb. 15 closing price of
$15.83. It is currently a 49 percent premium on Take-Two's Friday closing price.
In its rejection the board of Take-Two said it judged the bid to be "inadequate
in multiple respects."
"Electronic Arts' proposal provides insufficient value to our shareholders
and comes at absolutely the wrong time given the crucial initiatives underway
at the company," Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement.
Take-Two is scheduled to release the latest installment in the popular Grand
Theft Auto series, "Grand Theft Auto IV," on April 29. The release
of "GTA IV" was slated for October last year,
but was delayed in order to give the development team more time for certain
game elements. The series has sold more than 65 million copies to date, and
the company said that it wants to hold-off on talks with EA until after that
game hits the market. Therefore it proposed to start talks on April 30.
EA had originally told Take-Two the offer was subject to Take-Two agreeing
to start talks by Feb. 22, but it noted Sunday that it would hold the offer
open "for the present time" in the hope that discussions can begin.
In an open
letter to investors CEO John Riccitiello wrote EA believes its offer is
a good one for Take-Two shareholders. He said Take-Two's future is uncertain
and that "there is a strong likelihood that the company will be sold in
the not-too-distant future."
"So, that's it. We've made a proposal to buy Take-Two. Our preference
is to make this a friendly transaction and I'm hopeful we can achieve that.
We've sent this proposal in the genuine belief that combining EA and Take-Two
would be good for the people who make games and good for the people who play
them," he wrote.
IDG News Service
Build your tech library with our book giveaways.
Windows PowerShell 2.0 Unleashed
By Tyson Kopczynski, Pete Handley, Marco Shaw; Published by Sams
Windows PowerShell Unleashed will not only give you deep mastery over PowerShell but also a greater understanding of the features being introduced in PowerShell 2.0–and show you how to use it to solve your challenges in your production environment. Enter now!
Ubuntu Server Administration
By Michael Jang; Published by McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Realize a dynamic, stable, and secure Ubuntu Server environment with expert guidance, tips, and techniques from a Linux professional. Ubuntu Server Administration covers every facet of system management -- from users and file systems to performance tuning and troubleshooting. Enter now!
