Take-Two representatives had more than a mouthful to share with the media in regards to the latest extension of Electronic Arts’ offer recently to buy them out.
As most of you know, EA has been very hard at work trying to acquire the publishing giant either through a hostile takeover or just a mutual agreement in general. The latest deadline for Take-Two Interactive was for this past Friday, which came and went without any word of a sale, much to the delight of gamers everywhere.
The first response came from Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of the Board at Take-Two, who had this to say about the current situation: "This is the same highly conditional proposal that EA offered Take-Two stockholders on March 13, 2008, which our Board of Directors thoroughly reviewed and unanimously determined to be inadequate and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two’s stockholders.
"As such, the recommendation of our Board of Directors that stockholders not tender their shares to EA remains unchanged. The Board is committed to maximizing stockholder value and is exploring all strategic alternatives to do so. We said we were willing to begin formal discussions with interested parties on April 30, following the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, and we have in fact begun that process.
"We are confident in the significant growth potential of Take-Two and in the unique value of our business given our strong position in this growing and dynamic industry."
Zelnick clearly stated that they have begun the process of discussing a buyout with interested parties. This leaves us as well as a lot of other gamers curious as to how many other parties are seriously in the race to acquire the company besides EA.
Ben Feder, Take-Two CEO, added, "EA’s highly conditional offer fails to compensate our stockholders for our exceptional portfolio of intellectual property, world-class creative resources, and our successful revitalization initiatives. In the last several weeks, our strategy and Take-Two’s value have been vividly demonstrated by two notable events.
"The record-breaking sales performance of Grand Theft Auto IV in its first week of release confirmed its status as the most successful video game launch of all time and as a blockbuster on par with any entertainment product ever released.
"We have also just announced an agreement with Universal Pictures to make BioShock, the universally acclaimed hit video game, into a feature film, demonstrating how Take-Two is delivering value from our powerful and wholly-owned intellectual property. The small number of shares tendered into EA’s offer to date demonstrates that our stockholders agree with what our Board has maintained from the beginning: EA’s proposal undervalues our Company."
The thing that is most troubling about these statements isn’t the fact that EA is trying to buy out the company, but that if EA offers up a bit more cash, Take-Two is prone to sell. While a lot of people, PSU included, enjoy the unique IP titles that Take-Two offers the gaming world not only on a yearly basis with its sports titles but from its other genres as well, it leaves a somewhat bitter taste in ones mouth knowing that there will be less competition to create a better product if a buyout were ever to take place.
Stay tuned for any further developments as they become available.