In light of the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, I figured
I’d deliver you all some more updates on EA’s attempt to buy out
Take-Two!
Earlier this year EA attempted put out a bid on
Take-Two, parent company to Rockstar and 2K games, and were rejected.
After trying to make a bid again last month, EA once again ups it’s anny and puts out
yet another bid out on Take-Two. And once again – they got rejected!
Although
the press release on T2’s site is pretty much written in Wall
Street-lingo wrapped in an abundance of legal mumbo-jumbo, I was able
to gather some details:
-EA has upped it’s offer to $26 a share for stock-holders of Take-Two.
-Take-Two declined the offer in the best interest of it’s stockholders, claiming that it
would be an “inadequate” payoff to it’s share holders and that EA can do better
-EA
has been talking with Take-two for the last year about a possible
buyout/merger,
but in January Take-Two rejected any further Negotiations
-Take-Two will still be accepting offers prior to the release of Grand-Theft Auto IV,
including any from EA.
-EA claims to have waiting to make a bid, to ensure the well-being of GTA IV.
Grand
Theft Auto IV, is set to be Take-Two’s best seller for this season and
most likely the year as well. It is more than likely that EA wants to cash
on the franchise and purchase Take-Two as quickly as possible to reign
in all the glory. Though this can’t be confirmed, why else would EA be
pushing the buy-out so close to GTA’s initial release?
Currently, Take-Two’s stock is sitting at just about 26.0 a share. But
with GTA IV’s upcoming release, it’s safe to say that their stock will
rise – the dilemma being, that the longer Take-Two waits to possibly
accept EA’s bid, the smaller their offer will be. EA has currently stated that their budget for Take-Two is $2 Billion, but like I said before, that can change rather quickly!
Oh, what to do?
Expect alot more drama from these two as GTA’s release gets even closer.
I doubt EA will give up any time soon, that’s for sure!
For more on this check out
C|Net’s article
or T2’s Press Release