After seven months of discussion, debate and speculation, it’s officially over. Take-Two will remain its own separate entity, instead of residing under EA’s arching umbrella.
Take-Two’s take on the situation was clear. “We remain focused on creating value for our stockholders and our consumers. This has been our goal since EA launched its conditional and unsolicited bid six months ago, a bid which was repeatedly rejected by our stockholders," read the official statement.
“Take-Two’s business has continued to strengthen since the time EA first made its offer. We have delivered terrific products to our consumers and we’ve been rewarded with very strong financial performance. We have an exciting future ahead of us, powered by our profitability, a significant cash position, the absence of debt, an undrawn credit facility and a terrific lineup of games. We are confident in the unique value of our business given our strong position in what is a growing and dynamic industry,” said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two.
EA, on the other hand, had the following to say. “EA is tracking toward a record breaking year," said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer of EA. "We’re launching 15 new games including award-winners like SPORE, Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge, great new titles from the Sims, new family titles with Hasbro, and the highest quality slate of EA SPORTS titles on this generation of consoles. We’re also expanding beyond our core business with a series of direct-to-consumer launches including Warhammer Online.”
If that doesn’t sounds like an aggravated ‘we don’t need you anyway,’ I don’t know what does.