EA extends Take-Two offer again

Megapublisher pushes back deadline for Rockstar parent's shareholders to June 16.

In Take-Twenty of the saga in which Electronic Arts is attempting a buyout of Take-Two, the Sims publisher has extended the deadline for its tender offer a third time. It is the second time EA is offering a price of $25.74 a share; on April 18, it pushed the deadline to May 16, but dropped the share price from $26. This came after Take-Two executives approved a "poison pill" measure which would dilute the stock in event of an attempted takeover.

The official reason given for the extension is so that the Federal Trade Commission can complete its investigation into the deal. EA's senior vice president of corporate development, Owen Mahoney, commented, "EA's offer price remains unchanged at $25.74 per share and our offer is still subject to conditions that include regulatory approval. As stated earlier, we retain the right to terminate the offer if the conditions are not satisfied."

Take-Two was quick to issue a statement following the announcement, advising stockholders once more not to sell their shares. Chairman Strauss Zelnick said, "We said we were willing to begin formal discussions with interested parties on April 30, following the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, and we have in fact begun that process." Zelnick did not name names, although he has stated before that EA was not the only suitor wooing Take-Two.

EA so far has 6,210,261 of Take-Two's outstanding shares as of May 16, only around 8 percent of the total. Since the launch of its flagship game GTAIV, Take-Two shares have been fluctuating, rising to $26.63 on the day of the game's release, dropping to $25.74, and closing on Friday at $27.10.

361 Comments

  • topballer51

    Posted May 26, 2008 9:04 am PT

    Listen, this is probably the dumbest thing ever. I dont really even play Take Two games like that, but i have a problem with EA trying to take over Take Two because NBA 2K8 is the best basketball simulation ever, and NBA Live has sucked since the 2K series has come out. If EA buys out Take Two, my basketball gaming experience will never be good again

  • mrklorox

    Posted May 22, 2008 2:22 pm PT

    barJerubsheol said: "the problem is the FTC doesn't know enough about the gaming industry to realize that it's a problem."

    Exactly! They only look at the money side, not the quality side.

  • mattg90520

    Posted May 22, 2008 10:15 am PT

    i hope this offer doesnt go through. i wouldnt mind any other company owning them, for the most part. EA just wants to stamp their seal on yet again another company's games

  • mrjasler

    Posted May 22, 2008 9:19 am PT

    you're one of those guys "sam" that thinks there is a conspiracy theory for everything... you thinking i love ea... haha .. where have i said that. All i have tried to prove is the facts. I am going in with an unbiased view of the situation. People like you come on here with a heavily biased view against EA and it doesn't matter what EA does in the present and future to help their reputation.. it won't change your opinion. Anyways it doesn't matter what i say.. I work at a company that is not even related to EA. So stop this i work for ea B*llS**T

  • Nawras

    Posted May 22, 2008 12:27 am PT

    EA is imbecilizing the industry!

  • Gackt1617

    Posted May 21, 2008 7:46 pm PT

    EA is going to ruin bioshock 2!!!!!!!! I hope EA goes broke or something....

  • Maverick82102

    Posted May 21, 2008 5:03 pm PT

    Man EA just needs to back off.

  • DoomZaW

    Posted May 21, 2008 2:20 pm PT

    After GTA IV, i gotta say i don't care if they buy it or not, i don't think im gonna buy any more GTA's from now on...

  • nobeaner

    Posted May 21, 2008 11:40 am PT

    @Ranteal

    I could have said it a lot better myself.

  • Smoothy08

    Posted May 21, 2008 10:38 am PT

    EA are alright with the likes of The Godfather and The Fifa Series. Also the Sims have also been a phenomenal gaming release. However EA in my opinion will ruin Rockstars/Take Two games they are doing well on there own with games such as Manhunt, GTA to name a few. I think that EA should stay EA and not try to interfere with Rockstar/Take Two games. Leave Take Two/ Rockstar Alone and stop trying to expand your already massive brand and try to invest your time in producing good quality games instead of taking credit for everybody else's.

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted May 21, 2008 5:32 am PT

    This is hilarious! EA is so used to people just kneeling down to them and allowing themselves to be acquired, that when a company tells them no (several times); they don't know how to react. Just give it up and take a L on this one EA. This is getting old.

  • L_i_o_n

    Posted May 21, 2008 4:16 am PT

    all hopes now on Mafia 2. This game should sell well and then EA dont have a chance on buying T2.

  • Ranteal

    Posted May 21, 2008 1:15 am PT

    Its almost funny in a way. I mean, everytime EA pulls this stuff, the people know that soon they will pull it harder! Soon they pull too hard, and all the fun and stuff is there, dont touch!!! They make too much of the real banana business fire to run back and seek love for ring tom and his list of new time junk. He knows how give time back to those who LISTEN WHEN THE CLOCKS SING BED!!!

  • PS2Dude89

    Posted May 21, 2008 12:54 am PT

    I'm seriously tired of EA and this whole deal. I just want them to let this takeover go and leave Take-Two alone!

  • zorbmeister

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:29 pm PT

    Oh noes!!!!111one

  • living_wmd_888

    Posted May 20, 2008 7:34 pm PT

    I wonder if T2 will frustrate EA into dropping the deal as Yahoo! did recently with Microsoft. I like it when I see smaller companies spitting in the faces of bullying behemoths like EA and MS, but now Yahoo! is faced with investor lawsuits and an angry stakeholder who is trying to get its entire board of directors dismissed so that they can sell out to Microsoft, and I wonder if Take-2's investors will do the same.

  • ScreamDream

    Posted May 20, 2008 7:16 pm PT

    Perhaps Take Two can send Nicko Belic to EA headquarters and give them an offer they can't refuse.

  • barJerubsheol

    Posted May 20, 2008 5:25 pm PT

    the problem is the FTC doesn't know enough about the gaming industry to realize that it's a problem.

  • Blood_Diamond

    Posted May 20, 2008 4:54 pm PT

    We shall serve EA games... Come my brothers we shall all drink from the well of EA... lol like hell... at this rate it'll be EA only games... Hell at this rate they may even buy xbox and playstaion and wreck them too.

  • DrKill09

    Posted May 20, 2008 3:19 pm PT

    The only good thing that could possibly come from an EA takeover is that we'd no longer get YouTube vids removed for containing GTAIV and Manhunt 2 footage. I mean, Take2 have their head straight up their ass when it comes to the concept of FAIR USE.

    I OWN the games, I should be able to post all the footage I want.

  • mrjasler

    Posted May 20, 2008 3:10 pm PT

    the only people that can stop EA are the Federal Trade Commision. Take Two can say no or whatever , it doesn't matter EA will just buy up all the shares they can get.. they have just stopped at 8% because they want to make sure that the Federal Trade Commision will approve the deal. It would be a waste of time and money if the FTC said no. So the only hope is the FTC..

  • valdarez

    Posted May 20, 2008 3:04 pm PT

    This is the most hostile take over attempt in gaming history. Hostile take over attempts rarely occur in the gaming industry because the real asset of a company is the skill and dedication of their employees and a hostile take over tends to cause employees to leave thus negating the benefit of the acquisition. If EA's goal were to acquire the talent of Take Two, then they would not be attempting a hostile take over. Their goal is to kill competition, plain and simple, which is never good for the end consumer. Again, this is the most hostile take over attempt in gaming history. EA is screwing the gamers by destroying competition instead of actually trying to compete by making better games. Boycott EA games. If you must play an EA game, then buy it used on eBay. You'll save $$$ and you won't be supporting a company that obviously cares little about their own consumers.

  • Richmaester6907

    Posted May 20, 2008 2:50 pm PT

    EA never gives up but only 8% so far jeez they have a long way to go

  • mrjasler

    Posted May 20, 2008 2:24 pm PT

    khoofia_pika.. manhunt and table tennis are not amazing games, they are average and didn't sell that well. they both got 70 metacritic so they are no different to ea's new IP like Boom Blox got 85 metacritic, army of two had a 74. 1000's you say? what a joke.. go to take two's website they have a weak catalogue once you get past their GTA , Bully and 2k sports games. Activision's friend or foe got a 60, tony hawk a 75 .. let's face it they have dudds too and no one gets on their case.

  • ebonyflame

    Posted May 20, 2008 2:17 pm PT

    I am not sure if this has been said already but if EA indeed dos have the money they are just waving around to buy other studios, why not just make direct competition for the company they are attempting to buy or make better the games that compete with that company so that company will just go away forever because it cannot compete? Seriously, if you have that much cash then make your games better so your sales do not continually go down every year. Make a better madden, make a capable, fun alternative to GTA. With all the billions you have available to just buy other companies, why not instead invest in yourself.

  • barJerubsheol

    Posted May 20, 2008 1:04 pm PT

    charizard1605,

    Sports games have their place. Just because you don't enjoy them doesn't mean others don't. I don't enjoy RPG's, but I don't go bashing them because it takes a lot to make them and many people enjoy them. What about the kid in the wheel chair who loves football or the hockey fan who lives in Arizona and can't always find ice to play on? Plenty of people can't do sports but love them. I find watching TV in a game a bit more ridiculous, but that's a different story.

    While the industry would be able to adjust after a period of time, as is the way with things, the sports game genre would be set back significantly if this deal goes through. The more diversity and competition, the better.

    To All,

    Even if I did like EA, which I used to back in the good old days of Red Alert 2 and Emperor: Battle for Dune, this would be enough to make me dislike them strongly. Buying one's way out competition is good for business, but bad for the industry, bad for quality, bad for the art of games, and, if I may be so bold, cowardly. Now with these hostile takeover offers, a lack of respect for Take2 is apparent. I can't see them not having issues with the developers, who are probably content where they are at. I have a hard time believing the developers under Take2 would enjoy working for such a company.

    And I know it takes a few minutes, but it really helps when you're making an argument to have read all of the significant posts made previously on a comment board. That way people don't have to make the same arguments over and over again. (especially those who make long posts, the jerks)

  • NA3D

    Posted May 20, 2008 12:05 pm PT

    Crytek is officially a totally separate company from EA that does not belong to EA. They are partners as EA is the publisher and Crytek is the developer, but that is as far as it goes. They signed a contract that said Crytek will only publish with EA for so many years.

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:25 am PT

    skayne, man... i'm so sorry for you...

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:24 am PT

    keng_jeremy_77,
    dude, EA will do justice to take two... if you're worried about GTA, look at Godfather... if you're worried about Manhunt, dont worry, it sucks anyway... if you are worried about bully, look at order of the phoenix and get even more worried.

  • skayne

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:21 am PT

    You wont be able to boycott enough to make a change. Casuals will still buy the games. And yeah, you dont realize how much you use \/ until its broken... Worst part is that i cant copy and paste a \/ easily cause the command is ctrl+\/...... lame right?

  • King_Jeremy_77

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:21 am PT

    If Take-Two is smart, they won't let it happen.

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:21 am PT

    charizard1605,

    sports games dont suck!!!!!

  • kz1den

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:17 am PT

    toyota22 "How to stop EA?

    I dont now how:-((("

    Quit buying their games. Simple.

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:16 am PT

    @ toyota22,

    {{sigh...}} man... you a little dim or something?

  • toyota22

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:13 am PT

    How to stop EA?

    I dont now how:-(((

  • charizard1605

    Posted May 20, 2008 11:00 am PT

    @ NA3D

    1. Crytek belongs to EA. Criterion belongs to EA. If they had made a crappy Crysis or a lame Burnout Paradise, then you and everybody else who bashes EA, would have gone on about how EA has ruined yet another franchise. Yet when EA gets it right, you conveniently forget it, and all praise goes to the developer? I am not trying to impose my opinion on any reasonable lor unreasonable EA hater, I just hate hypocrites and hypocrisy, which is on spectacular display here.

    2. Sport games suck. Let's face it. I mean, why would any sane n00b play a game on a video game console when they can go out and play it for real??? If you score a goal for real, in a playground, and then get happy, I'm all for sharing your joy. But on a video game? What'll you say? I pressed the X buton at the right time, or I moved the Wiimote, and I got a Six hit off the ball that no one apart from me cares about???
    Sport games are a bad idea, and shouldn't be made. Or, as Skayne said, just twice or maximum thrice in a generation.

    3. EA sucks, when it comes to making movie liscensed games. But then, everybody does. Don't get me started on Activision's Spiderman Or the Narnia games. And let's not even mention the disastrous Eragon games. At least the Harry Potter games are mildly playable, while games like LOTR are uber cool.

    Finally, mate, I would say this (again): EA is a publisher. Don't blame it for its developers' faults. If you do, then praise it for its publishers accomplishments as well. Don't conveniently over look those.

    @ skayne: that's the most hilarious thing that could haVe happened to you. Seriously.

  • ShadowOfKratos

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:57 am PT

    fanboys... you know Microsoft is also known for that...
    anyway, whatever... I got better stuff to do...

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:47 am PT

    mrjasler,

    TakeTwo has been doing well even if you dont give a dam about GTA... Bully was developed by TT... Manhunt games are released by TT... and then Rockstar's Table Tennis... thousands of games apart from GTA by TT have been doing well.

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:44 am PT

    And then, Medal of Honor and Command and Conquer and LOTR are doing great... those are some games which matter, aren't they? they have been getting along well... And if you care about useless games like Harry Potter, about whom nobody cares, then thats your own fault.

  • ShadowOfKratos

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:41 am PT

    is that EAs way of showing respect or fear for T2?
    whichever, they should be more discreet about it... I mean... I like EA's games and all (although only as rentals, with exception of titles like Skate and SSX3) but it's embarrasing to admit it when EA acts this pittyful and full of sshht.

    "...although he has stated before that EA was not the only suitor wooing Take-Two."

    somehow I smell Microsoft here...

  • khoofia_pika

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:39 am PT

    NA3D,

    Well, Burnout is basically EA's home production. Just the way Santa Monica develops God of War for SCEA, Criterion develops Burnout for EA. If you say that Burnout does not belong to EA, you might as well say that God of War is not Sony's game but Santa Monica's! Criterion WAS an indepemdant company. But now, it belongs to EA.

    As for your NFS thingy, after Blackbox started developing the NFS games for EA, the series got better... Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 and Underground were revolutionary... Underground 2 rocked. And Most Wanted is said to be the best NFS game. Carbon has whatever Most Wanted had and then some more. Carbon isnt all that bad, when you look at it from a different point of view.

    As for your sport games cribbing, dont get me started dude... Football... its going as well as anybody could have imagined it to... the games are very good. The reason why some people like you dont like them is that every game is similar to each other. A series cant have changes with every game. They might as well call every changed game a part of a different series! Cricket- the case is the same with cricket and Fight Night too. And NFL is going very well...

    As for Godfather, I agree that a game like Godfather cant possibly be messed up but then just to make sure that your article is supported by reasoning behind it, you conveniently dont praise Godfather. Whereas if it were bad, you would have gone after EA like cats and dogs. Just like GF cant be made into a bad game, some other games by EA cant be made into good games! Isnt your article very... hypocritical?

  • skayne

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:38 am PT

    @NA3D

    Oh and this is completely unrelated but i agree 100% that games like Halo 3 did not innovate enough and were not pushed enough. Strange, I try and say that to Halo fans and I get similar reactions to the ones i'm getting now about EA. I believe in huge amounts of improvements in games, big change. That is my personal preference, as I'm sure some of you agree with me. Which is why I prefer HL2 over Halo 2,3. But in some cases there literally is little room for improement.

    Ok, ok stay with me here for a second before passing judgment on my last statement. Sports games are an interesting subject. You are basing a game off of another game. This is actually quite challenging, at least in my mind it is. You want to innovate but you cant change the core mechanics of the original game (whether its football, hockey, basketball, etc). I agree with a lot of you when you say a roster change just isn't enough. I mean what is that, it's a download-able patch, that's what it is.
    If I had to come up with a solution I would do this. Create no more then two sports games per console generation per sport. One when the console first comes out, as a test run, its new tech, it wont be perfect. Then de\/elop another, when you ha\/e more of an understanding of what you are working with. In between these, just patch the rosters. When you arent forced to do a game a year you ha\/e more time to think, with this extra time new things will be tried and experimented and who knows, there may be huge improvement. Understand that the market is looking for a game a year, if they just stopped that now a lot of their audience would be up in arms!

    These are just my \/iews on sports games and why they ha\/e lacked impro\/ement lately. I mean, how much do you want to change, football will be football.

  • skayne

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:20 am PT

    Ok my \/ key is broken so i ha\/e to do \ + /. Im not an idiot and am not randomly capitalizing letters. I will get if fixed e\/entually.

    Ok so that is cleared up.

    I ne\/er stated that e\/eryone with a differing opinion is a hater. But please, what are you reading. Read through the pages. What will you find. "EA sucks", "I HATE EA", "im an idiot" etc etc. Are there any statements that back up these opinions, no. Does e\/eryone need to back up what they say, no. But if I or someone else comes here to challenge it, and you continue to defend it with nothing to back it up. I consider that "hating".

    I am not generalizing the readers of this as "haters". \/alid arguments from both sides do come up. Here is the difference. We (the side that is trying to defend EA) accept and are aware of what you guys are saying. Yes they had bad management tactics in the past. I pro\/ided links earlier that quoted the person who hated EA the most, the EA Spouse. Yes her reasons were \/alid at the time, but she now recommends people to work at EA.

    Some turn around, eh? The president (or CEO, i dont remember off the top of my head though i can go check for \/alidity sake) admitted to making mistakes in the past. They know to keep their hands out of the de\/elopers work. Changes are being made, stop citing past e\/ents as absolutes.

    As mentioned by mrjasler, myself and a few others, other publishers buy out other studios. That is the growing and changing life of the industry. TakeTwo did it themsel\/es. Now it may be done to them. There are two arguments that people arent separating. 1. EA has immoral business tactics. 2. The quality in EAs games ha\/e decreased. I want e\/eryone to distinguish between the two issues because they are not related. Dont cross arguments from one topic to another, it doesnt relate. Howe\/er if you bring forth the fact that monopolization can be a factor in game quality, that is different entirely.

    The point im trying to make, though I rambled is this. If I say that EA is just doing what is necessary to sur\/i\/e as a business. And someone comes back to me saying you are wrong EA games suck, now Rockstar games will suck etc etc, I will see you as ignorant because you fail to see the issue being brought up and you bring up things that dont relate. These behai\/ors are typical in people who are fanatics, or in this case haters. They argue because they passionately hate something, and usually it is without a good reason.

  • mtlnascarfan

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:16 am PT

    Oh, god...oh, god...OH, GOD!

    PLEASE don't let EA acquire Take Two. They've already done enough damage to the NASCAR franchise. The last decent thing EA has done was NASCAR SimRacing for the PC. All of their cosole-based games ended up blowing a$$.

  • NA3D

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:15 am PT

    Crysis was developed by Crytek, which is a seperate company from EA all together.

    Criterion is owned by EA, but has been left alone for the most part, more than any other studio ever owned by EA.

    And how do you mess up God Father, you have to be an absolute idiot to mess up designing and developing this game. Actors would fly at you wanted to do voice acting for this game even. Granted, it is a good game, but Burnout and Crysis are not actually developed by EA.

    I havent been into skate type games for a while, but I heard it was great. EA does hit the spot here and there, but not as often as it used to, or as often as it should.

    Dont get me started on NFS, it was a beautiful series until EA killed it. The sports titles are easy to improve too, but they just cant figure out how to do it.... or they are too cheap to. I offered my hand and talked to head developers at EA sports before, but they dont care. I had a friend work on a couple of their games, and they refused to take input from any employees, which was hell on Superman Returns.

    I know more about the behind the stories of Supreman Returns than I know about most games, and it is pretty bad on how the whole project was ran, which is how pretty much all EA sports game projects are ran.... You have to listen to these guys for the improvements, they wont BS you.

  • mrjasler

    Posted May 20, 2008 9:59 am PT

    the fact is Activision and TakeTwo have made dudd games, they just aren't that publicized. AND TakeTwo and Activision bought their franchises.. they didn't make them. GTA and the developer were bought by TakeTwo so don't go praising taketwo. It's no different than EA who bought the Burnout team and franchise.

  • Darkblyth

    Posted May 20, 2008 9:40 am PT

    I HATE EA i used to like them but they are greedy

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