Take-Two settles shareholders' EA buyout suit

Grand Theft Auto IV publisher agrees to disclose additional information regarding Madden maker's $1.9 billion buyout attempt; no monetary damages awarded.

In March 2008, a group of shareholders led by Patrick Solomon filed a class-action lawsuit against Take-Two related to the publisher's dismissal of EA's $1.9 billion buyout offer. According to the shareholder suit, Take-Two breached its fiduciary duties by, among other purported misdeeds, not fully disclosing EA's offer and taking up a severance plan that would see executive employees receive a heavy payout in the event that they lost their jobs due to the buyout. After an extended back-and-forth, EA walked away from the deal in September.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today, Take-Two disclosed that it has reached an agreement with those who brought the suit. As part of the settlement, Take-Two has agreed to additional disclosures related to the EA buyout offer. The settlement does not provide for any monetary remuneration to Solomon or the rest of the class, and Take-Two said that it plans to challenge any application for attorney fees and expenses.

Take-Two also noted that though it has agreed to settle the case, it has done so in the interest of saving "the time and expense of continued litigation." Take-Two was also quick to say that it has opted to disclose the supplemental information not because it felt that its original submission was "misleading or incomplete," but to avoid any further argument on the manner.

33 Comments

  • Aizou

    Posted Apr 9, 2009 9:36 am PT

    Don't sell out Take Two to EA, I like Grand Theft Auto being good and free of spyware!

  • green_dominator

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 1:21 pm PT

    Up until the early nineties [during the strike series] EA made great games, somewhere down the line the crossed into dark territory becoming a bully, Take Two and rockstar have always been good, sure they have had some real duds in their stockpile they have had more success than failure especially with GTA.

    I would never take them seriously if they had took the buy out, sometimes you have to stay true to where you come from than the suits......

  • burstlimit514

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 11:44 am PT

    oh man. Please dont ruin grand theft auto.

  • dannyatkinson

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 9:01 am PT

    I despise EA. Yes they have made a couple good games.
    That does not excuse their hordes of Horrible crap games.
    Games they have ruined. Companies they have ruined like Westwood and soon to be Bioware. Bioware will be dissolved.
    Trust me it will happen.

  • ZakMcKracken

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 8:23 am PT

    *nostalgia mode on* Man, I miss the C64 times, where four-eyed crazies (they were crazy back then, not nerds) tinkered away in their attics. Things were so much more simple back then (and pixely)

    *nostalgia mode off*

  • ZakMcKracken

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 8:12 am PT

    I don't really care anymore who is taking over who. I am dissapointed about most of the releases of last year. Mind you, not because they were overly bad, just because they did not meet my expectations (e.g. GTA4, Empire TW, Mercenaries 2, etc. etc.). Also fed up with all these bad ports. I am wondering if all these money driven publishers are really to blame. Maybe the producers or project managers are lousy nowadays

  • Unlimitedbigdad

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 2:53 am PT

    Let's see what EA will work this one out

  • parhar67

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 2:16 am PT

    @ skrilla_xs

    Godfather 2 is a great game im currently playing it now. Its Obvious there wont be another game like gta 4 but its a great alternative they dont copy the game but redefine GTA...play it before you put it down

  • Skrilla_XS

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 9:46 pm PT

    @lowkey254

    have you seen Godfather II? Yeah EA isn't that bad..........SIKE! If they got their hands on GTA it'd probably worse than God Father II, which would be a HUGE lost for gamers everywhere.

  • lowkey254

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 5:49 pm PT

    EA isn't as bad as they used to be. They're letting the development teams work take there time. I used to hate them but the hate is gone now. Now I just watch them and see what they put out.

  • RonHack

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 5:47 pm PT

    Heh, I love it!

    After the "Hot Coffee" wish-wash, they finally found the cajones that they always had when they created the GTA series, to defend themselves against those who seek short-term gains.

    Who bets that they use teir new backbone to make the NEXT GTA? I'll bet it'll be totally amazing!

  • -DCCshadow-

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 4:34 pm PT

    ea arnt that bad they make some great games like BF2142 which is one of my favourite games of all time and they do just release sport games year after year but mostly they are good games

  • Angre_Leperkan

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 4:02 pm PT

    I'm glad EA didn't get a chance to buy out more competition.
    -_- Serves them right.

  • Settler87

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 1:31 pm PT

    Good slap in EA face Take-Tow! ... personally if Take-Tow close or sold i will quit playing games forever. I'm a big fun of GTA ... keep the good work TT

  • DragFire24

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 1:05 pm PT

    parhar67: I dont like EA since the low quality games and fast development "age". They ruined one of the best games (NFS Carbon) by not including a LAN feature and on others too.
    Then the DRM thing, that fortunately is settled by a de-authorisation thing.

    Well, now they are not bad but still don't like the way they acted in the past which is not so long ago.

    About buying TakeTwo.. T2 produces different and more quality based games IMO.
    [intended to reply and not for further discussion or offence, just a personal opinion]

  • parhar67

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 12:57 pm PT

    why does everyone hate EA? they make great games like the godfather NHL 09 fifa 09 madden 09...pretty much all sports games fight night round 4 is coming out burnout paradise if you put EA down in any way and have played any of their games in the last 3 years your a hypocrite and should never speak about EA again....so if you turly dont like ea then dont play any of their games....and you will be sorry because EA makes some of the best games out their

  • ol_dj

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 11:20 am PT

    now maybe take two can have time to put gambling back in gta.

  • otanikun

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 8:14 am PT

    Good thing they weren't bought out, way to stick to your guns Rock*

  • TruthOpinionSpk

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 7:08 am PT

    Poor shareholders. Good for Take Two, though.

  • kurohubby

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 3:58 am PT

    As long as the soul stealing demons haven't corrupted everything innocence but than again take two took it in the number two. if you know what I mean

  • Paulf001

    Posted Apr 7, 2009 12:01 am PT

    Looks like the shareholders are butthurt over Taketwo not accepting the buyout offer. EA was going to pay $26 a share to buy them out. Now Taketwo stock is only worth $8.

  • maaly81

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 9:40 pm PT

    why was this necessary? EA mad cuz they can't suck companies dry and be the only "big" game developer. glad they beat them, but we will see what game T2 come with

  • okassar

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 7:28 pm PT

    And TTWO is down 4% for the day,what a surprise...Problem:This may have reflected onto other game stocks,first off,EA is down 4.8%,ATVI(which I own)down over 2%--why do the top investors tie the whole game market together,I really don't understand....and ATVI has a PE(which reflects what the value should be,taking profitability and future outlook into calculation) of 25,but it's value is at around 10 because adult investors are missing something,maybe how many billions Activision makes.Hope that changes If you're 16 and up,get into the stock market,best time to buy is during a recession,I'm making good money--bought ATVI at 8.5

  • CharlieFubar

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 7:27 pm PT

    and with things settled, tou guys can make gta4 expansions... and work on gta 5 in peace.

  • W3En

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 7:26 pm PT

    I would have to agree EA hasn't been making good games for the past few years but if you think of the James Bond games they did such as Agent Under Fire or NightFire they were both good, and if you Havn't played Need for Speed Underground 2 then you would actually be suprised at how much fun it is, even the new need for speed is fun. I would also disagree with trust2112 Nvidia makes very good graphics cards, every one I have had has been way better then the ATI ones I have gotten.

  • armyman455

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 7:09 pm PT

    im glad EA dropped out of Take-Two's buyout deal cause take-two is a GOOD video game company and EA ........ well EA just plain sucks

  • MaxCadillac

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 6:45 pm PT

    This makes the price the next go around just that much less (or more?).

  • JacksSmrkngRvng

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 6:32 pm PT

    As much as I loathe EA as a whole, since they pulled out of the Take-Two buy-out TT's stock has plummeted. If I were a major shareholder in Take-Two I would be very upset also. At the end of the day its about profits for these shareholders and they couldnt careless about whether or not Madden is an update every year or if GTA IV had DL content for the PS3 or Xbox 360. As a business owner myself the shareholders in fact got screwed but as a gamer I am glad they didn't get Take-Two.

  • trust2112 posted Apr 6, 2009 6:21 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    trust2112

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 6:21 pm PT (hide)

    EA is to software what Nvidia is to Video Cards. They buy gold and turn it into crap.

  • PS2Dude89

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 6:19 pm PT

    As long as Take-Two and Rockstar stik to what they are doing (GTA games) then I'm fine with this. I just don't want EA to buy them out and just be stupid with everything.

  • zeeshan810

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 5:29 pm PT

    Grand Theft Auto IV publisher agrees to disclose additional information regarding Madden maker's $1.9 billion buyout attempt; no monetary damages awarded.

    This doesn't effect Rockstar Games then its okay

  • bigd575

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 5:17 pm PT

    I agree with Megawizard lol.

  • Megawizard1

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 4:51 pm PT

    And this is why I hate the stock market.

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