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takeover

ea take-two

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.

Also, as a result of Take-Two issuing additional stock following the approval of the company's incentive stock plan, the price per share EA is offering has dropped to $25.74 from $26.

EA reveals that as of 5PM yesterday, 6,423,787 shares of Take-Two common stock had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the offer.

For more on how all this works, be sure to check out Leigh's feature on the takeover.

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ea take-two

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 »

take-two interactive

Take-Two Talks Asian Expansion As If No Big Company Was Trying Desperately To Buy Them

Former EA President of Asian Online Hubert Larenaudie might soon be returning to the fold as he takes a position with Take-Two Interactive as their President for Asia, spearheading the company's Asian expansion initiative. Take-Two is looking to expand their distribution throughout the region, developing a strong presence in Japan while create a "meaningful online game operation", with a focus on China and Korea.
"Hubert Larenaudie is an experienced senior executive who has successfully built or expanded Asia Pacific operations for prominent interactive entertainment and consumer goods companies," said Gary Dale. "His in-depth knowledge of the region; his skill in creating the right product development, distribution and marketing strategy for each local market; and his track record of driving growth will help Take-Two realize the tremendous opportunities in APAC."
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ea take-two

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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Rockstar and its franchise Grand Theft Auto is the "primary interest" of EA's attempted purchase of Take Two games, said chief executive John Riccitiello.

take-two interactive

Analyst: Take-Two Talks Buyout Before GTA IV

Despite predicting fiscal year sales of Grand Theft Auto IV to reach 9 million, with 6 million shipping out the first week, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes that Take-Two is ready to talk EA buyout. Citing a poor lineup over the next year, with major sequels such as BioShock 2 a long way off, Pachter believes that Take-Two will abandon it's stance on not discussing a potential buyout until after GTA IV is released.

"We expect that in order to save face, Take-Two management will withdraw its demand that any discussions wait until after the launch of GTA IV, and we think that management will engage in discussions with EA,"
Pachter also suspects that EA, in order to facilitate a more friendly transaction, will be willing to up their offer to as high as $27 a share. With big investors already bailing, stockholders would likely jump at the offer. At this point EA purchasing Take-Two feels like less of an if and more of a when.

GTA IV to sell 9m units, ship 6m in first week [GamesIndustry.biz]


sunflowers

Ubisoft Buys SunFlowers


Which is apparently, the name of a PC game developing company more known in Germany than anywhere else in the world. SunFlowers is also the owner of the publisher of the game, Anno 1701, a piratey-looking kind of Civilization coming to the DS. The president of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot had this to say: More »