Kotaku: takeover

EA Extends Take-Two Tender Offer

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:30:09 MDT

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EA reveals that as of 5PM yesterday, 6,423,787 shares of Take-Two common stock had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the offer.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

EA Extends Take-Two Tender Offer Expiration Date to May 16, 2008
Offer Price is $25.74 per Share, Reflecting Additional Shares to be Issued by Take-Two

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. ("EA") (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that it has extended its tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock (including the associated preferred stock purchase rights) of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ("Take-Two") (NASDAQ:TTWO) to 11:59 p.m., EDT on May 16, 2008. The tender offer was previously set to expire at 11:59 p.m., EDT, on April 18, 2008. EA also amended its offer to reflect a price of $25.74 per share. The price takes into consideration additional shares to be issued to Zelnick Media following stockholder approval of the amendment to Take-Two's incentive stock plan at its 2008 annual stockholders meeting on April 17.

Valued at approximately $2 billion in cash, EA's aggregate consideration for Take-Two shares remains unchanged.

EA continues to believe that the 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.

As of 5:00 p.m., EDT, on April 17, 2008, 6,432,787 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer.

FTC Issues EA Second Anti-Competition Inquiry

Mike Fahey — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:00:00 MDT

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.

EA Mods Take-Two Tender Offer

Mike Fahey — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:20:00 MDT

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."

In response to Take-Two's actions, which include moving the annual stockholder meeting to April 17th, EA has amended its tender offer, extending the offer from April 11th to April 18th, under condition that T2's board either redeem the stock purchase rights issued with the stockholder rights plan, or they are assured the rights have been invalidated, at least in regards to their takeover bid.

I layman's terms? Take-Two laced their stock with poison. EA modified their offer to eliminate said poison. Take-Two moved their stockholder meeting past the offer deadline, and EA extended the offer deadline to compensate. It's very much like watching a chess game - you care about the outcome, but the match itself is boring and a bit confusing unless you understand exactly how the game works.

EA Amends Take-Two Tender Offer and Extends Expiration Date to April 18, 2008
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. ("EA") (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that it is amending its tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ("Take-Two") (NASDAQ:TTWO). The amendments are in light of the actions publicly disclosed by Take-Two on March 26, 2008, including its adoption of a poison pill and change to the date of its 2008 annual meeting of stockholders to April 17.

The principal amendments to the offer include:

* EA has added a condition to its offer requiring either (1) that Take-Two's Board of Directors redeem the preferred stock purchase rights issued as a result of Take-Two's adoption on March 24, 2008 of the stockholder rights plan, or (2) that EA be satisfied that such rights have been invalidated or are otherwise inapplicable to its acquisition of Take-Two.
* EA has extended its tender offer for all of the common stock of Take-Two until 11:59 p.m., New York City time on Wednesday, April 18, 2008, unless further extended. The offer was previously set to expire at midnight, New York City time, on April 11, 2008.

"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."

EA commenced on March 13, 2008 its all-cash tender offer to purchase Take-Two shares for $26.00 per share, which represents a 64% premium over Take-Two's closing stock price on February 15, the last trading day before EA sent its revised proposal to Take-Two.

As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Thursday, March 27, 2008, approximately 5,000 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer.

Rockstar and its franchise Grand Theft ...

GeekyChic — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:03:07 MDT

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.

Analyst: Take-Two Talks Buyout Before GTA IV

Mike Fahey — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:40:01 MDT

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]

Ubisoft Buys SunFlowers

Kim Phu — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:40:00 MDT

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:

With the acquisition of Anno, Ubisoft reinforces its position in the real-time strategy market. Anno, along with Ubisoft's The Settlers, is one of the most well known franchises in Germany, reaching a wide audience that includes not only traditional gamers, but also women and families. We are proud to add another top-quality brand to our rich portfolio and we are looking forward to bringing the brand to an even wider audience."

It's about time pirates became more readily available to women and families. Kim Phu

Ubisoft Acquires RTS Developer SunFlowers [Game Informer]