EA bags bigger piece of Battlefield developer DICE

Thwarted in its attempt to acquire complete ownership of the top-selling Battlefield developer, Digital Illusions CE, Electronic Arts is licking its chops this week after securing enough shares of the company to qualify as a majority shareholder. The California-based publisher recently secured 3 million shares of the company from investors and employees. It secured an additional 898,000 shares in the open market, and when all is told, it will own "a controlling interest representing 59.8 percent of the outstanding capital and votes in DICE." All transactions are to be completed by January 27, 2005. EA holds additional warrants in the company that, if exercised, will increase its ownership position to 67.3 percent.