<![CDATA[Kotaku: Ea Take-two]]> http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png <![CDATA[Kotaku: Ea Take-two]]> http://kotaku.com/tag/ea take-two http://kotaku.com/tag/ea take-two <![CDATA[Take-Two Stock In Nose Dive After EA Loses Interest]]> So Electronic Arts buying Take-Two Interactive is no longer a going concern, and as our interest in the story wanes, so do stock prices for the two companies. Both stocks are taking hits on the North American stock exchange this morning. EA started off taking a more substantial hit of 2.7%, but prices have risen during the morning as people realize that hey, it's still EA. As of right now shares are currently trading at $44.34, a drop of 1.44% over the previous close. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5050004&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[EA Extends Take-Two Tender Offer]]> Following last night's Take-Two shareholder meeting, which Leigh was kind enough to cover, Electronic Arts has announced that they are extending the deadline on their tender offer to May 16th, 2008. The offer was originally extended from its original April 11th deadline to today in response to Take-Two's rescheduling of the annual shareholder meeting. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=381355&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[FTC Issues EA Second Anti-Competition Inquiry]]> Electronic Arts has issued a statement this morning announcing that they have received a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding their proposed takeover of Take Two Interactive. Seems the FTC still isn't convinced that the joining of the two companies wouldn't be anti-competitive.
While EA believes that its proposed transaction with Take-Two would not be anti-competitive, the FTC has not yet reached any conclusions regarding the proposed acquisition and has indicated that it needs further information and additional time to conduct its review.
No matter what the shareholders and company executives wind up deciding to do, it all comes down to the FTC. EA is already big. It's up to the FTC to determine if acquiring Take-Two would make them too big for the competition. It's not likely the sale would be blocked, but those FTC officials are real sticklers about having their paperwork in order. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=380891&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[EA Mods Take-Two Tender Offer]]> When Take-Two rejected EA's buyout offer for the umpteenth time earlier this week, they also instituted a shareholder rights plan - a poison pill tactic that would give existing shareholders more room to reject the offer outright or negotiate a higher price - basically making it much more difficult for Electronic Arts to pull off the takeover. EA is not pleased.
"The actions of the Take-Two Board may increase the risk for their stockholders by delaying a potential transaction," said Owen Mahoney, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at EA. "We continue to believe that our $26.00 per share offer price is full and fair, and that a transaction between Take-Two and EA is the most compelling combination financially, strategically and operationally for all parties."
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]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=373332&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Take-Two Deems EA's Offer Inadequate Again]]> Once again Take-Two Interactive has denied the takeover bid from Electronic Arts, stating that the offer of $26 a share is not only inadequate, but also underhanded. Urging stockholders not to sell their stock, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick explains that the timing just isn't right.
Our Board, after careful review, has unanimously determined that Electronic Arts' offer continues to provide insufficient value and remains opportunistically timed to capture the value of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV launch at the expense of our stockholders.
In the long and winding press release that follows, Take-Two outlines plans to explore their financial alternatives after GTA IV is released. Said alternatives include a "business combination" with EA or other third parties that would allow Take-Two to remain independent, or simply selling the company for more money. In short, they want to see what GTA IV does to their value before they sell anything. For the long story, hit the jump. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=372337&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[EA Sees Take-Two As Valuable And Shiny]]> Flattery certainly seems to be the wooing tactic of choice for EA in their attempt to win over Take-Two's affections. Chief Financial Officer of Warren Jenson has gone so far as to describe the people, studios and IPs at Take-Two as "diamonds": More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=363566&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Take-Two Stock Jumps 47% In Wake Of EA Proposal]]> On Friday, shares of Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) were trading for $17.36 a share as of market closing. Then over the weekend EA made its bid for Take-Two public, releasing details of a proposed buyout at $26 a share to various news outlets including Kotaku, even going as far as to open a website dedicated to their proposal. Well surprise, surprise, this morning TTWO opened at $25.75 a share - 47% above the last closing. Shares are going fast too, with massive chunks being sold off at a time. Over the past 3 months the average trade volume for the stock has been around 1.8 million a day. As of this writing, 12.5 million shares have already changed hands. So what does this mean? Stockholders believe this buyout will happen. So do arbitrageurs - companies that buy up huge amounts of stock for the chance at making small yet high volume profits. In other words, these companies believe so strongly that the $26 a share offer will go through that they are willing to buy up huge amounts for the chance at making $.25 profit a share. I dunno folks, this looks like it could very well happen. Hold me. More »
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