Take Two willing to negotiate with EA

By Games Industry.biz Published 25 February, 2008

But only after GTA IV comes out.

Take-Two has labelled Electronic Arts' USD 2 billion buy-out offer as "inadequate" and "opportunistic", as EA attempts to take advantage of the struggling Grand Theft Auto publisher, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Take-Two's board rejected EA's offer last week, prompting Electronic Arts to yesterday reveal details of the proposed deal and to publish the full letter sent to the company from EA CEO John Riccitiello.

"We believe EA's unsolicited offer is highly opportunistic and is attempting to take advantage of our upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most valuable and durable franchises in the industry," said the company.

"Electronic Arts' proposal provides insufficient value to our shareholders and comes at absolutely the wrong time given the crucial initiatives underway at the Company," commented Strauss Zelnick, executive chairman of Take-Two.

"In addition to undervaluing key elements of our business, EA's proposal fails to recognise the value we are building through our ongoing turnaround efforts, which will further revitalise Take-Two."

While Take-Two has rejected the initial offer from Electronic Arts, the company has said that it will be willing to enter discussions following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV on 29th April.

"We believe this offer demonstrated our commitment to pursuing all avenues to maximise stockholder value, while we believe that EA's refusal to entertain this path is evidence of their desire to acquire Take-Two at a significant discount, whereas we believe this value rightly belongs to our stockholders," added Zelnick.

EA will be holding a conference call this evening to discuss the acquisition attempt.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • wayn3h #1 4 years ago

    gobblegobblegobblegobblegobblegobblegobble

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #2 4 years ago

    Dear me, I can't imagine how badly EA would neuter GTA.

    Mind you, they might have got a taste for controversy with their recent alien lesbo orgy epic Mass Effect.

  • UncleLou #3 4 years ago

    Bloody hell. They're scared, and angry.

  • EffEmmGee #4 4 years ago

    @ Mentalist(air): I think you'll find that it was Microsoft Game Studios who published Mass Effect, EA are publishing the next installments.

  • McLovin85 #5 4 years ago

    All i have to say is that if Rockstar becomes part of the EA family we can kiss goodbye to anymore original IP from them. Things like Table Tennis and Bully were quality games.
    EA are already doing this with Pandemic by making them work on a new Lord of the Rings game which, for a studio that made Mercenaries, is probably a real kick in the teeth.
    They'd probably have R* work on a Sims expansion pack or some %&*£.

  • metalmonk #6 4 years ago

    What's next EA your own console.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #7 4 years ago

    I think you'll find that it was Microsoft Game Studios who published Mass Effect

    It was EA who were talking the fighting talk against Fox News when all that American brouhaha kicked off

    http://ko taku.com/348187/ea-calls-fox-ou...

  • xandoodle #8 4 years ago

    Be realistic McLovin, the Sims is a Maxis baby, nothing would change that.

  • Madafunkola #9 4 years ago

    Seeming as my last 2 EA purchases were some of my favourite games of recent times, I'm no longer an EA-hater, yet I can't see them continuing with all the contraversial gaming IPs that R* currently handle... Annual updates to Table Tennis however, no surprises.

  • monkie_king #10 4 years ago

    "EA preying upon uniformed people"

    You mean like firemen, and nurses ;)

    Seems unlikely that MS will swoop in, since they're already going to have to talk nicely to their bank manager to finance the Yahoo! bid. Take-Two are really a one-franchise studio anyway, all their eggs are in the GTA basket.

    The one thing EA would probably do is create spin-offs from the GTA brand, which Take-Two should arguably be doing anyway. Liberty City Racer or whatever.

  • sanctusmortis #11 4 years ago

    Is it me, or is EA just buying devcos with existing exclusivity ties? Seems a little... Odd.

  • Tiny_Tim #12 4 years ago

    And what makes you think being owned by Microsoft is any less absurd as being owned by EA?

    at least microsoft don't have a reputation for treating employees the way kfc treat chickens

  • Turambar #13 4 years ago

    Are they willing to consider a lower offer if GTA IV doesn't boost their share price as much as they hope?

  • Totoriko #14 4 years ago

    "Is it me, or is EA just buying devcos with existing exclusivity ties? Seems a little... Odd."

    Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes, don't look around the eyes, look into my eyes.
    It's just you

  • syphaa #15 4 years ago

    Could be good for the community.
    R* with more cash behind them can't be a bad thing. Lets just hope they don't want to get involved with the creative processes.

    Will see if this turns into a good thing...or quite the opposite.

  • L42yB #16 4 years ago

    Hahahahaha!

    EA have no hope anymore

    The share price for take two is climbing rapidly! Already they are worth more than EA offered them! :D

    http://uk .finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=TTWO&m=

  • cheeky_master #17 4 years ago

    @L42yB LOL go send take2 and email and point it out to them if they havn't realised! GTAIV will totally boost them up i think that's what they are waiting for to see how much they get from GTA and then decided to say FK you EA we made a huge profit on GTA hahaha move along!
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/08 @ 15:37

  • just4funUK #18 4 years ago

    Here is hoping EA do not get to Purchase Take Two.As they seem to be buying to many companys up at the moment. I think it would be a bad idea for Sony/Nintendo or Microsoft to buy them out as it would reduce the market size they have for the game to one console and hurt sales.Now If Sega or another third party Publisher was interested in purchasing them at least the GTA series could continue on multi-platforms.

  • Duke_Red #19 4 years ago

    It just proves that Rockstar is all about GTA, its a shame really.

  • Calgon #20 4 years ago

    I dont think the same cause for complaints we had about EA this gen are as strong as they were last gen(they have improved theres actually EA games on my wanted list for when I buy a 360) but I dont think this will happen, nor do I want it to... its too big of a buyout here, it would have a big effect on the industry and I doubt it would be a positive one.

    I think MS should be alowed to buy a few dev houses(not publishers) though because some of their exclusives theyd worked with have suffered from this kind of thing, so adding to their first party list would be a wise move. I mean Bizarre and Bioware were pretty well known Xbox devs. Failing that they could make thier own inhouse teams at their new offices, build one in the UK too while they are at it, I do think Microsoft Games Studios have built up a deserved good reputation for quality now, so why not? A few more first party titles on the cards never goes a miss, I feel with Bungie going independent they have already got something planned at MGS.
    Edited by 5 at 25/02/08 @ 19:32

  • smelly #21 4 years ago

    Ooooh! Yearly GTA games!

    Cant wait!
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/08 @ 20:03

  • Kiigan #22 4 years ago

    You have to wonder how on earth Take Two are in such dire financial straits, considering the massive success of every GTA game that comes out. If T2 aren't rolling in dough, what hope is there for anyone else? What are they doing with the money, shoving it up their noses?

  • SomaticSense #23 4 years ago

    I'm not that bothered about the possible effect of GTA. Like someone has already said, Rockstar's best employees will probably just bugger off to Realtime Worlds and carry on making proper GTA games, albeit under a different name. To be honest, that would probably be a good thing.

    I'm more concerned about EA pulling the plug on all of 2K's superior sports games. I will be boycotting EA if that was to happen.