Take-Two shares plummet after EA deal sours

Take-Two Interactive stock opened this morning's trading at $15.80, down more than $6 from its previous closing for a tumble of nearly 28 percent. The drop was the result of Electronic Arts announcing on Sunday that it was walking away from discussions to acquire the Grand Theft Auto publisher, and would not be making another offer.

Back in February, before Electronic Arts went public with its acquisition attempt, Take-Two Interactive stock was trading at $17.36. EA's original $2 billion offer worked out to about $26 per share, and the stock immediately soared to match that price. In the weeks surrounding the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, Take-Two stock was actually trading higher than the offer, peaking just shy of $28.

While Take-Two stock has lost all those gains and then some, news out of the publisher since the original offer was made has been generally positive. In addition to the successful launch of GTAIV, Take-Two has posted a pair of glowing quarterly reports, the latest issued earlier this month.