EA's Take-Two Takeover Goes Hostile
 

So Take-Two won't play nice with EA's buyout offer? That's fine by EA. Playing it nice was a courtesy, an act of politeness on their part, but in light of Take-Two's reluctance (and some would say greed), they've now no other option. It's (apparently) time to go hostile, and appeal directly to Take-Two's shareholders. The Wall Street Journal report that EA's takeover payout to shareholders will be...$26 per share, exactly what was offered to Zelnick & co. the first time around. There's been no comment as of yet from anyone at either Take-Two or EA regarding the matter.

UPDATE - OK, it's now official. EA boss John Riccitiello:

This is a great opportunity for Take-Two shareholders. We believe Take-Two investors will see our tender offer as the best way to maximize the value of their investment in Take-Two. This tender offer provides a clear process to complete the proposed transaction. For EA shareholders, the combination would add additional intellectual properties to our already strong portfolio and welcome Take-Two's talented creative teams to the great development organization we've built at EA.

SOURCE

I-is EA going to hurt my cat?

I don't see the big deal with this. Take-Two is a f*cking joke, anyways. How can a company who makes GTA loose money? EA buying them could be the best thing that ever happened to the company, maybe not for the majority of people that work there, the sports development houses especially, but I'm sure the good ones could pull a job on the Live series, since it's been terrible for years.

And I guarantee you the only reason Take-Two wasn't picked up on the first offer was because of Zelnick and the higher-ups wanting more out of it. I mean, half the executive staff is already laying out a severance package that includes 1.5x their regular salary for something like a year if the company gets bought. That's f*cking shady business. And honestly, while Zelnick may have turned things around a bit for Take-Two, that board still has no god damn clue what they're doing.

EA would bring some stability to this company, and that's only a good thing for those of us who play games.

I love the whole hostile takeover thing, though. It's really entertaining. Seeing Riccitiello, who continues to impress, really trying to pull this one out, while the Take-Two execs basically say "NO! NOT UNTIL WE FINISH MAKING SURE WE'RE WELL PAID!"

I don't like it one bit. Sure, this brings some stability for the moment, but we're going to wind up looking like the movie industry in a few years where the big money independent projects can't get off the grounds without "compromises" made to appeal to one of the four or five surviving publishers.

At the very least though, we can get Bioshock on multiple consoles, and that isn't a bad thing.

LOL! wtf? Indie games have had such a huge f*cking explosion in the last half a year, and you're worried about them?

Do you ever do anything besides follow the line of the masses? It's like everything all the know-nothing kids on GameFAQs or Kotaku post is a carbon copy of everything you say.

And how does EA buying Take-Two make BioShock an instant multi-platform game? Take-Two is desperate for money, yet they went 360 and PC exclusive. EA isn't exactly in need of something like that. Not like it would matter either way. What f*cking tool plays an FPS with a dual shock? Jokes.

The kind who just got his Xbox UPS'd back from the repair center to his front door for the fourth time with a note attached claiming "Give us another $150 for a crappy refurb or you're stuck cold loser".

A little update to this hostile takeover.

When EA wants something, they go about it with guns a-blazin' and a fixed eye on the target. In their quest to purchase Take-Two Interactive, they apparently want to insure they secure the fan base that comes along with Take-Two's biggest franchise, Grand Theft Auto. Makes sense, yes?

Well, try this on for size: according to WhatIfGaming, the most recent rumor is that EA bought the largest GTA fan forum on the Internet (GTA Forums) for $3.4 million on March 22. Now, EA hasn't made anything official just yet, but there is a leaked letter from EA to "Tank," the webmaster of GTA Forums, which you can read here. As you can see, this is merely a message conveying EA's interest in purchasing the website, but if it's real, it certainly goes a long way to confirming a possible sale. After all, why on earth wouldn't Tank sell? What motivation does he have? For that matter, what's going to stop the Take-Two shareholders from voting for the EA acquisition? Yeah, not much...any time someone stands to make a lot of money, chances are, they're gonna leap at the opportunity.

We'll let you know when and if EA confirms this interesting purchase, and if they plan to pick up anything else GTA-related. They're on the warpath now!

SOURCE

Another update, lol. EA, this is sad.

EA today announced that it has extended its tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The previous deadline was was set to expire at 11:59 p.m., EDT, on April 18, 2008, but has been extended until 11:59 p.m., EDT on May 16, 2008.

EA has also amended its offer to reflect a price of $25.74 per share, taking into consideration additional shares to be issued to Zelnick Media.

EA notes that it believes the offer price to be "full and fair" and that is is the most "compelling combination financially, strategically and operationally for all parties".

SOURCE

If I were that fansite, I would not sell in a million years. Chances are, if the buyout fails (which I'm guessing it will), then EA would be stuck with a site promoting the competing brand. That would probably mean the site would die a quick death. EA is all or nothing.